An ambulance carrying a human liver to a hospital in Pune for a transplant met with an accident on Pune Satara Road on Wednesday afternoon. As the driver and medical staff in the ambulance sustained minor injuries, the liver was transported to its destination in an alternate ambulance, said the police officials.
The accident took place around 12.30 pm when the organ was being carried from Kolhapur to Pune through a green corridor facilitated by the police for a transplant at Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune. The accident took place at Kikvi village in Bhor Taluka on Pune Satara road, around 40 kilometers from Pune City. Officials said the ambulance may have turned on its side after the driver lost control on the vehicle due to high speed.
Superintendent of Police (Pune Rural) Abhinav Deshmukh said, “The ambulance turned on its side near Kikvi village. The driver and medical staff have sustained minor injuries. An alternate ambulance, which was on stand-by at a nearby police post, was immediately deployed and the liver taken within a short span after the accident.”
Personnel from the fire brigade of the Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA) were called for initial response. A Fire Officer said that their team used a crane to straighten the ambulance and also cleaned up the oil that had spilled on the road.
According to officials at Zonal Transplant Coordination Centre, the liver of a 36-year-old woman who was declared brain dead was being transported from Kolhapur to Pune. One of her kidneys was sent to a Solapur-based health transplant facility.