#Empower_Women.  In the past 10 years, Amrita Hospital (Embracing the World‘s tertiary hospital in Kochi) has conducted 325 liver transplants–85 in the past year alone. The youngest patient was five months old. Patients are given transplants regardless of their ability to pay; Amrita has spent Rs. 19 crores (more than $3 million) providing liver transplants for people in poverty. Transplantation is the only treatment available from patients suffering from acute or chronic liver failure. Nearly 90% of Amrita’s liver transplant patients survive the surgery, and go on to lead normal, healthy lives.

Shyju KK is a daily laborer who sometimes gets work and sometimes doesn’t. When it became clear that his little boy Shamin would need a liver transplant to survive, Shyju knew he could never afford it. Instead of giving up hope, he went directly to Amma and asked for help. Amma made sure that Shamin got the transplant he needed. Little Shamin now has a healthy liver, and a long life ahead.

Shown here is Siju Sunil, a liver transplant patient.  In the past 10 years, Amrita Hospital has conducted 325 liver transplants–85 in the past year alone. The youngest patient was five months old. Patients are given transplants regardless of their ability to pay; Amrita has spent Rs. 19 crores (more than $3 million) on providing liver transplants for poor patients.

Kerala Health Minister VS Sivakumar and renowned Malayalam cinema actor Padmashree Mohanlal were present for the occasion of the Ten-Year Anniversary of the Liver Transplant Unit. Speaking on the occasion, Mohanlal, who has pledged his own organs for donation, encouraged others to consider doing the same. Health Minister Sivakumar pointed out that the need for organ donation is much greater than the number of organ donors at present, and asked families of brain-dead patients to consider donating their relative’s organs to give other struggling patients a chance to survive.

The first liver transplant in the state of Kerala was performed at Amrita Hospital in 2004.