SHASHWAT GUPTA RAY
A decision taken by a griev ing family in 2018 not only gave a new lease of life to several people but also exposed a crucial gap in Goa’s organ transplant system, eventually paving the way for the establishment of the State Organ and Tissue Trans plant Organisation (SOTTO). As the world observes World Organ Donation Day on August 13 to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation, the story of late B Sadashiv Rao, a prominent chartered account ant from Vasco, re mains an important chapter in Goa’s medical history.
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In April 2018, Rao’s family authorised Goa’s first doc umented deceased multi-organ dona tion after he was declared brain dead following a medical procedure at a pri vate hospital. His kidneys and liver were harvested and transported to Mumbai, while his corneas were donated in Goa. The donation, however, triggered a political and administrative con troversy after Goa Medical College’s request for the kidneys was turned down by the Regional Organ and Tis sue Transplant Organisation (ROT TO). At the time, Goa did not have a formal state-level cadaveric trans plant framework, resulting in the organs being sent outside the State. This subsequently led to the establishment of the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTTO) Goa in December 2019 to handle local organ pooling and re trieval.
Since then, nine cadaver organ donations have suc cessfully saved 18 lives through kidney transplants be tween 2019 and 2025 under SOTTO Goa. Recalling the chain of events and its impact, the son of late Sadashiv Rao, Shreyas Rao, said, “My father, who had a lifelong history of helping others, was declared brain dead at Manipal Hospital on April 5, 2018. Our family wished to honour his lifelong legacy of helping others. We initially inquired about eye donation, but were informed that his other organs were also viable for donation.” The process required coordination with ROTTO and SOTTO, as well as urgent clearance from the Health De partment. However, there was no SOTTO in Goa at the time. Due to the time-sensitive nature of the procedure, a medical team had to travel from Mumbai by charter flight to perform the organ retrieval. Goa Police created a 30-km green corridor from Bam bolim to Dabolim airport, enabling the harvested organs to be transported in 24 minutes without any glitches. “I was present at the airport control room until the flight departed to witness this final journey.
The expe rience brought a complex mix of emotions — profound sadness over the loss of a loved one, juxtaposed with the comfort of knowing that my father’s legacy of helping others continued,” Shreyas said. Expressing his happiness that the controversy sur rounding his father’s organ donation eventually led to the formation of SOTTO, which has since helped save crucial lives, he said awareness about organ donation remains poor. “I would like to encourage everyone to consider reg istering for organ donation. Following my own expe rience, I recently registered on the official website to donate my organs, in the hope that they may benefit someone in need in the future,” the young entrepre neur said.
