Kerala to get first memorial for posthumous organ donors

Kochi: A memorial will be built in Kochi to honour organ donors in Kerala who gave new meaning to life through posthumous organ donation.

The memorial, named “Wave of Life,” is being set up under the leadership of the Kerala State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (K-SOTO), Heart Care Foundation, and the GCDA. It will be constructed at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kaloor. Health Minister Veena George will lay the foundation stone at a function scheduled at 1 pm on Monday.

The memorial is being built in memory of those who donated organs through the state government’s Mrithasanjeevani scheme. It will be the first such memorial in Kerala and the second in India. The names of all those who donated organs through the Mrithasanjeevani programme will be inscribed on the memorial.

The memorial will also feature life stories of people who received a second chance at life through organ transplants, scientific information about organ donation and transplant surgeries, and facilities to register consent for organ donation.

Dr. Jose Chacko Periyappuram, Chairman of the Heart Care Foundation, said the memorial is being constructed with the aim of encouraging more people to come forward for organ donation.