Faisal, 31, celebrates 'first' birthday with transplanted heart

Mangaluru, Jul 8: For 31 year old Faisal Byari from the coastal town of Kundapur, it was his first birthday on Saturday. In fact, it was on July 8, 2016, he had got a fresh lease of life after undergoing a successful heart transplant at Manipal Hospitals in Bengaluru.

Faisal celebrated the 'first birthday' of his second phase of life by cutting the cake along with Manipal Heart Institute cardiothoracic and vascular surgery department head N S Devananda at the Pathrika Bhavan here.

Faisal, who is now waking up in the wee hours every day to pray and jog actively after one year of heart transplant, said, "I am confident and perfectly alright now."

Faisal said the heart transplant has brought miracle in his life. "It was a beautiful journey post one year of my heart transplant. Dr Devananda and his team were extremely dedicated towards my case and have provided the best treatment when I got rejected from every other hospital. Now I am confident of doing all activities. I am indepted to Manipal Hospitals and doctors who have given me a new life," Faisal said.

Devananda said the hospital has successfully performed many heart transplants, but the case of Faisal was very complex and first of its kind in Karnataka. "Faisal was born with a complex heart problem called 'single ventricle' in which there will be only one main pumping chamber instead of normal two. He also had switching of the main blood vessels (arteries) of the heart with reduced blood flow to the lungs, which made him turn blue. He could not play at school or be physically active. By the time he could seek medical advice, it was quite late. The valves inside the heart were leaking badly and he was told that no surgery was possible.

As his breathlessness worsened, he was put on medications and his blood was let out periodically to keep it thin in the circulation," Devananda explained adding that cardiologist Dr Ranjan Shetty had referred Faisal to him. Faisal was called from Kundapur when doctors found a suitable donor in a youth, who died in an accident in Bengaluru. Donor heart was harvested from donor hospital and later shifted to Manipal Hospitals through a green corridor, he said adding, "The sick heart from Faisal's chest was removed and the new heart was sutured into place. The overall procedure took just around six hours," Devananda said.