One of the largest "bridges το life" in greek recorded history was set up from the early morning between Athens and Thessaloniki for six of our fellowmen, starting from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Henry Dunant Hospital Center and the organ donation from a 50-year-old patient who lost the battle for his life after an accident.
Following the required clinical examinations that ascertained the brainstem death of the unfortunate patient, his family decided to donate his vital organs for other people suffering to win their own battles.
It was followed by a long operation for the purpose of organ procurement, which was mobilized by the medical and nursing staff of the Henry Dunant Hospital Center, under the general supervision of the National Transplant Organization (NTO), which also determined the selection of recipients.
Compatible patients were found to receive organs and were given the heart, liver, kidneys, skin, and corneas of the unfortunate donor. In full cooperation with the NTO, all organs were transferred to public hospitals in Athens and Thessaloniki. The heart was transplanted to a patient in the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, the liver to a patient hospitalized in the Ippokrateio General Hospital of Thessaloniki, the corneas to a patient in the Attikon University Hospital, the skin to a patient in the General Hospital of Athens "G. Gennimatas" and the kidneys in two compatible kidney patients hospitalized in Evangelismos Hospital and Laikο General Hospital of Athens respectively.
Since its inception, the ICU of the Henry Dunant Hospital Center has played a leading role in the field of organ transplant and organ donation, contributing to the utilization of approximately 400 grafts that have given life to their respective patients. The coordination of the new "bridge to life" and the direct communication with the NTO at every stage of the operation was carried out by the Deputy Director of the ICU of the health-care center, Dr. Simona Virgili.
"When death in the intensive care unit is a fact and after having followed what science and the legal framework allow, it is our moral obligation to reach out to the deceased's family and propose the possibility of organ donation," stated the President and CEO of Henry Dunant Hospital Center, Mr. Themos Charamis, at the conclusion of the long-lasted operation, conveying also the thanks of the Management and the staff of the health-care center to the donor's family for their remarkable act of humanity, magnanimity and bravery. He also added that "Henry Dunant Hospital Center will continue to contribute decisively to the overall effort for organ donation, with the certainty that it is a social necessity and a victory for life ..."
