The General Hospital (GH) in Ernakulam, Kerala, is ready to perform its first heart transplant on Monday, December 22, 2025. This will make it the first general hospital in India to do so. The donor heart comes from Shibu, a Kollam man declared brain dead at the Government Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. The recipient is 22-year-old Nepali national Durga Kami, who has been seeking treatment in India for nearly a year. An eight-member medical team, including Dr. George Valuran, Dr. Paul Thomas, and Dr. Geo Paul, left Ernakulam Monday morning to retrieve the heart. A hospital source explained, "Since several organs are being harvested, this will take some time as the heart is retrieved in the end." The organ retrieval surgery began at 11 a.m. and is expected to finish by 1:30 p.m. The heart will then be airlifted to Kochi and should arrive after 2:30 p.m. The transplant surgery is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Ms. Kami was admitted to Ernakulam GH on Sunday night to prepare for the surgery. After successful HLA and blood group matches, doctors awaited confirmation that the heart was viable for transplant. Shibu was on ventilator support for seven days after a road accident. Besides the heart, his kidneys, cornea, liver, and skin will be donated to various hospitals. According to Dr. Shahirsha, medical superintendent of GH, "One kidney and skin will be donated to Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram; the other kidney to Travancore Medical College, Kollam, and cornea to Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Thiruvananthapuram." The liver was to go to a private hospital, but the recipient is unwell. It may go to the next priority patient, a hospital source added.