Hearts Without Borders: 19 year-old Pakistani Girl Gets 69 year-old Indian’s Heart 

Ayesha Rashan, a Pakistani citizen who has been on the waiting list for a heart transplant for 5 years finally receives one in India. 

26th April 2024

By Khushi Maheshwari

Ayesha had first visited India in 2019 when she went into cardiac arrest and consequently suffered heart failure. 

She was recommended for a heart transplant by experienced cardiovascular surgeon Dr. K R Balakrishnan, previously working at Malar Hospital in Adyar. However she was put on the waitlist of the state organ registry. 

As a remedial till she could get the transplant, a left ventricular assist device was surgically implanted in her chest. This device helped the left ventricle of her heart pump blood. 

After this surgery, she returned to Pakistan. In a tragic development in 2023, the right side of her heart also suffered failure and her body festered an infection. 

A painfully long 5-year wait was what it took for her to finally receive a heart. But a heart from the other side of the border. Currently, the heart of a 69 year-old patient is pumping blood through her brains. She was operated on in MGM Healthcare based in Chennai, on 31st January. 

The late donor suffered brain death in Delhi, from where his heart was brought to MGM Healthcare via plane. 

Ayesha’s family, who had seen her in excruciating pain, sighed with relief and revelled in joy after her successful surgery. Her mother Sanober Rashan spoke about how awful it was to see her daughter’s suffering. They contacted the surgeon and explained her worsened health to him, they were also transparent and told him that they could not bear the cost of surgery, to which the surgeon simply asked them to go to India. 

Ayesha, who wants to finish her studies and become a fashion designer, expressed that breathing had become easier after the transplant. The surgery was successful and she was off life support a few days post operation. The surgery was funded by money pooled in by an NGO called Aishwarya Trust, old patients and doctors. The bill amounted to Rs. 35 lakh and was cleared by Ayesha’s family on 17th April. 

In September 2023, doctors declared that the transplant was the only resort left for Ayesha’s condition and since then, she had been in and out of medical care quite a few times. 

Finally on 31 January, by some miracle, Ayesha’s mother received a phone call from Dr. KG Suresh Rao, Co-director at the hospital’s institute of Heart and Lung transplant and mechanical circulatory support. He explained how a native heart goes to a foreigner only when there are no recipients in the same country but since this heart was of a 69 year-old patient, not a lot of surgeons were quick to accept it. Furthermore, they explained how accepting this heart for Ayesha was a decision they took after thorough contemplation — the reason being the healthy condition of the heart coupled with this being Ayesha’s only resort.