Lucknow doctor dies in Hyderabad, waiting for lung transplant

Waiting for a lung transplant, the Lucknow doctor who was airlifted to Hyderabad in July, has lost the battle for life.

Dr Sharda Suman, the 31-year-old resident doctor at Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS), lost the battle for life on Sunday night while waiting for a lung transplant at KIMS Hospital in Hyderabad.

Her lungs were severely affected after she tested Covid positive in April this year. She was on Covid duty when she contracted the virus.

Dr Suman gave birth through an emergency caesarean surgery while on ventilator support.

She is survived by her husband and a five-month-old baby girl.

Prof P.K. Das, head, anaesthesia department, RMLIMS, said, "We have been informed by the doctors at KIMS Hospital that Dr Sharda Suman passed away on September 5 night."

Dr Sharda was airlifted to KIMS hospital on July 11 and had been waiting for a lung transplant since then.

Though all the tests required for the transplant were done successfully, the lifesaving surgery could not be performed as she developed a complication, Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), in her trachea and food pipe.

Her husband, Dr Ajay Kumar, had said, "This poses the threat of any liquid or food taken through the mouth going directly to the lungs. Stomach reflexes can also enter the lungs. Under such a condition, a lung transplant cannot be done. Though the condition had started developing when she was under treatment in RMLIMS, it aggravated with time after arrival in Hyderabad."

Dr Kumar and senior RMLIMS officials had met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to seek financial help for Dr Suman's treatment and the Chief Minister had sanctioned Rs 1.5 crore for the transplant.