Mumbai: Five families of brain-dead patients donated the organs of their loved ones over five days last week, taking Mumbai’s cadaver organ donation tally to a record 35 in just the first six months of 2026 — among the fastest the city reached the milestone since its deceased organ donation programme began in 1997.The five donations between June 26 and June 30 benefited 17 patients with end-stage organ failure, while the city’s overall 35 donations this year have helped over 90 patients.The five-day run began on June 26 when two families at Sir H N Reliance Foundation Hospital consented to organ donation within hours of each other. A 39-year-old woman who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a road accident donated her heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and corneas. Later that day, the family of a 57-year-old woman who was declared brain-dead after a stroke donated her liver, kidneys and corneas.On June 28, the family of a 69-year-old woman at Fortis Hospital, Mulund, donated her liver, kidneys, corneas and skin. A day later, the family of a 28-year-old man at Wockhardt Hospital, Mira Road, donated his heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and bones. The BARC employee had met with a fatal accident.On June 30, the wife of a 37-year-old man who was declared brain-dead in Fortis Hospital, Mulund, consented to donate his liver, corneas and skin.The pace of donations marks a significant turnaround. Mumbai recorded 53 cadaver donations in all of 2025 after posting 60 in 2024, 50 in 2023, 47 in 2022 and 33 during the Covid-hit 2021. This year, in the first six months itself, the city has witnessed 35 donations.However, a senior doctor pointed out that the donations could have been far higher if public hospitals had also motivated organ donations. “The state health minister a few months back held a series of meetings to promote organ donations, but public hospitals haven’t responded,” he said.
