A man from Mizoram underwent two simultaneous organ transplants at a hospital in Calcutta, thanks to his two siblings who donated a kidney and liver.

Lalrinngheta from Lunglawn, Lunglei, in Mizoram, about 170km from Aizawl, said he could not be thankful enough to his brother Lalrinpuia who donated his kidney and sister Laleinawmni who donated her liver to save his life.

Lalrinngheta said he had diabetes for a long time and that he had visited Calcutta in December last year for treatment at RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences at Mukundapur when doctors said he would need a kidney transplant. His brother Lalrinpuia, a schoolteacher, volunteered to donate his kidney.

In February, Lalrinngheta was told by doctors his liver, too, was damaged and that he needed a transplant.

Lalrinngheta, a government employee, said he had long been suffering from diabetes and that damaged his organs.

“We got to know of our brother’s crisis and I decided to donate the kidney. Then when we got to know he needed a liver transplant, we did not know what to do,” Lalrinpuia, who donated a kidney, said on Saturday. “One of our two sisters, Laleinawmni, decided to donate a portion of her liver.”

The surgery could not take place because of the lockdown and the brothers and sister and other family members have been staying at a rented apartment off the Bypass since December.

On Thursday, Lalrinngheta underwent simultaneous liver and kidney transplants. Doctors said the brothers and the sister were stable.

Lalrinngheta (centre) with his brother Lalrinpuia and sister Laleinawmni

“I was suffering from diabetes for long and after doctors told me I needed kidney and liver transplants I thought I was not going to survive. But my brother and sister came forward and the only thing I can offer them is love,” Lalrinngheta said from his hospital bed on Saturday. “I cannot repay their debts.”

“Our brother has two sons, aged seven and nine. He needed our help and we donated our organs,” Lalringpuia, the brother who donated the kidney, said. “We are a close knit family and this was our duty.”

Doctors said the surgery was complicated.

“When the liver transplant was taking place, it was an almost 12-hour surgery. During that time, the kidneys were not working. After the liver was transplanted into him, the kidney was put in place,” Sanjay Goja, senior consultant and programme director of liver transplant at RN Tagore hospital said.

He is out of the ICU, Goja said.

“It was an uphill task because the kidneys and the liver were not functioning. But we hope to discharge him in a week,” D.S. Ray, who headed the team that performed the kidney transplant, said.