As seen in picture: (Left to Right) Mr. Ajey Maharaj, Head – Corporate Communications; Mr. Mahipal Singh Bhanot, Senior Vice President & Regional Director; Dr. Dinesh Kumar Mittal, Senior Director & HOD CTVS, Dr. Naresh Kumar Goyal, Principal Director & HOD Cardiology & Heart Failure Programme, Mr. Naveen Sharma, Vice President & Facility Director, Dr. Amit Prakash, Director & HOD Cardiac Anaesthesia
New Delhi, October 10, 2026: Doctors at Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh gave a new lease of life to 47-year-old Mr. Chanchal Yadav by successfully performing North and West Delhi’s first successful heart transplant. Patient Mr. Yadav had been battling advanced heart failure for years. Despite best medical treatment, his heart’s pumping capacity had drastically weakened, leaving him bedridden with extreme breathlessness and frequent, life-threatening heart shocks that required emergency device implantations. With conventional medicines no longer working and his condition worsening rapidly, his only chance at survival was a heart transplant. The transplant was carried out by a multidisciplinary team of doctors led by Dr. Dinesh Kumar Mittal, Senior Director & HOD, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh.
The crucial turning point came when a suitable donor heart became available at PGIMS Rohtak, Haryana. Within minutes of receiving the alert, the transplant team at Fortis Shalimar Bagh mobilized to accept the organ and initiate the time-critical retrieval and transportation process. What followed was a meticulously coordinated, inter-state race against time. Hospital administration, transplant coordinators, NOTTO, SOTTO, and the traffic police authorities in Haryana and Delhi worked closely to facilitate organ allocation, retrieval, and transportation. A dedicated green corridor ensured uninterrupted transport, allowing the donor heart to cover a distance of nearly 95 kms from Rohtak to Fortis Shalimar Bagh in just 63 minutes. This coordinated effort ensured that the donor heart reached the transplant centre within the critical viability window, enabling the cardiac team to proceed with the heart transplant without delay.
Giving details of the case, Dr. Dinesh Kumar Mittal, Senior Director & HOD, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, said, “A heart transplant is among the most time-critical procedures in medicine, where every minute can have a direct bearing on the outcome. From the moment the donor heart was retrieved in Rohtak to the restoration of blood flow in our patient, every step had to be meticulously planned and precisely executed. The successful transplant was made possible by the seamless coordination of our organ retrieval, transplant surgery, anesthesia, perfusion and critical care teams, working together with a shared sense of urgency and purpose. We are delighted that the patient is recovering well. Given the severity of the patient’s condition, transplantation was a critical and potentially life-saving intervention; without timely access to a donor heart, the patient’s prognosis would have been extremely poor.”
Heart Recipient Chanchal Yadav said “There are no words to fully express my gratitude to the doctors, nurses and the entire team at Fortis Shalimar Bagh who gave me a second chance at life. When I learnt that I needed a heart transplant, my family and I were filled with fear and uncertainty. The speed with which the hospital team responded and the care and dedication they showed throughout the journey gave us immense strength and hope. I also want to express my deepest gratitude to the donor’s family, whose selfless decision has given me the opportunity to live again and look forward to the future with renewed hope.”
Dr. Naresh Kumar Goyal, Principal Director & HOD, Cardiology & Heart Failure Programme, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, said, “The patient had reached an advanced stage of heart failure where optimal medical therapy and an AICD were no longer sufficient to manage his ailing condition. At this stage, heart transplantation offered the most definitive treatment option and a meaningful opportunity to improve his quality of life. We are deeply grateful to the donor family for their extraordinary act of generosity, which has given this patient a renewed opportunity for recovery and a longer, more active life.”
Mr. Mahipal Bhanot, Senior Vice president & Regional Director, Operations & Operations Lead – NCR Projects, Fortis Healthcare said, “This successful heart transplant is a testament to the exceptional clinical capabilities, round-the-clock dedication, and emergency coordination of our multidisciplinary teams. As Delhi witnesses the launch of SOTTO, milestone procedures like this reinforce our unwavering commitment to strengthening organ donation awareness and delivering world-class healthcare to the community.”
Mr. Naveen Sharma, Vice President & Facility Director, Fortis Shalimar Bagh, said, “The seamless coordination between NOTTO, our dedicated transplant coordinators, and the police authorities of Delhi and Haryana was the backbone of this life-saving mission. Their vigilance and swift action ensured that every critical minute was utilized effectively to transport the donor organ safely, turning a complex cross-stage challenge into a triumph of teamwork.”