KOCHI: Ernakulam General Hospital is on the verge of becoming the first general hospital in India to perform a heart transplant surgery. The hospital and its doctors are fully prepared; all that is needed is a suitable donor heart. The first priority is Nepalese national Durga Kami.

Three others are also on the waiting list- two from Ernakulam and one from Cherthala. Their medical evaluations have already been completed. However, the central government's decision not to give priority to foreign nationals for organ transplants poses a challenge for Durga. She suffers from a condition that thickens the heart walls and grew up in an orphanage due to financial hardship.

Waiting for a year

Ernakulam General Hospital has been ready for heart transplants for a year now. The hospital has a hist

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