Once 'Fit and Healthy' at 34, He Now Lives with a Donor's Heart

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Key Points

According to DonateLife Australia, 1,800 people in Australia are waiting for an organ transplant.
Once a person die, his/her seven organs can be used for transplant within 45 minutes, a doctor explains.
After a heart transplant, Vino Kumar says he is living a normal and healthy life.

Vino Kumar, then 34, was playing cricket one bright Saturday afternoon in 2014.

The next thing he remembers is waking up in a hospital bed, fighting for his life.

Shepparton-based Kumar had dropped off his wife and son at their swimming class and headed to the cricket ground, just like any other weekend.

A tech professional who migrated to Australia in 2008 from India, he had no reason to believe the day would unfold any differently.

Vino Kumar. Credit: Supplied/Vino Kumar

“I still remember that moment,” Kumar recalled.

“I was on the cricket field … and then I just fell. The next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital room, surrounded by my wife and a few cricket mates.

“They kept saying I was lucky to be alive, but I couldn’t understand what had happened — it was all a blur.”

Kumar had suffered a sudden and severe heart attack.

I was fit and healthy. I rarely saw a doctor. I couldn’t believe I had a heart attack.

Vino Kumar, heart receiver

“And it didn’t end there. Things got worse. My heart’s condition deteriorated rapidly, and I had to be placed on a BiVAD, short for biventricular assist device. That was the hardest part of my life.”

Living with the BiVAD was an overwhelming and surreal experience. A machine was now keeping him alive.

“It’s terrifying to live with a machine inside your body,” Vino said.

“But I had no choice. I had to accept it. My world shrank to a two-foot radius. I needed help with even the simplest of tasks. It was the darkest phase of my life.”

The emotional toll was immense, but Kumar said the two words kept him going: heart transplant.

One day he received a phone call from the hospital. A donor heart had become available.

“I was shocked and excited,” he said.

“But sadly, the heart wasn’t suitable. I had to return home with nothing. That moment shattered me.”

Still, hope lingered. A few months later, in June 2016, Vino’s phone rang again.

“This time, I was hopeful. After 18 months in bed, I felt something was different. I prayed to God and went to the hospital with a positive mind,” he recalled.

“I woke up two or three days later … and I had a new heart beating inside me. That moment filled my eyes with tears — tears of joy and sorrow. I got my life back, but someone else had lost theirs.”

Vino Kumar recovering from his heart transplant. Credit: Supplied/Vino Kumar

With a new heart, he said, came a renewed sense of purpose, hope and energy.

“The first thing I asked my physiotherapist after the surgery was, ‘This is June. Cricket season starts in October. Can I play again?’” Vino smiled.

“And she said, ‘Yes, but you need to get physically fit first.”

And that’s what he did, eventually returning to the cricket ground.

“Nearly 10 years later, I am living a normal life again. I am off the BiVAD, and I owe this second chance to the generous soul who donated their heart. Because of them, I am here,playing cricket, being a dad and living life fully.”

Organ donation, Vino believes, isn’t just about saving a life, it’s about restoring someone’s future.

1,800 people in Australia are waiting for an organ transplant

Lucinda Barry AM, CEO of DonateLife Australia, told SBS Gujarati that right now, 1,800 people in Australia are waiting for an organ transplant. And more than 14,000 are on dialysis due to kidney failure.

DonateLife Week, which runs from July 27 to August 3, is a time to raise awareness and encourage Australians to register as organ and tissue donors.

Lucinda Barry, CEO of DonateLife. Credit: DonateLife

“DonateLife Week is key week where we ask everybody to have that chat about organ and tissue donation, and importantly people who support donation to register and let their family know that I want to be a donor and its really simple and easy to register,” Barry said.

“It takes less than a minute to be able to register you support for donation.”

Organ donors: ‘Every registration matters’

Dr Dhaval Ghelani, Director of Intensive Care at Norwest Private Hospital in Sydney, shared his personal commitment to the cause.

“As a doctor, I have seen many patients with kidney and heart failure. That’s what inspired me to register as an organ donor. My entire family is registered organ donor too.”

Once I die, my seven organs can be used for transplant within 45 minutes.

Dr Dhaval Ghelani, Director of Intensive Care, Norwest Private Hospital, Sydney

According to DonateLife, there were 527 deceased organ donors in Australia in 2024, an increase of three per cent from 2023.

“The reality is, only a small percentage (of donors) will be able to donate all organs. So every registration matters,” Dr Ghelani said.

Dr Dhaval Ghelani. Credit: Supplied/Dr Dhaval Ghelani

Religious beliefs are often seen as a barrier to organ donation. But community leaders are helping to dispel those myths.

Jatinbhai Bhatt, priest of the Sri Mandir Hindu temple in Sydney, said: “There are many stories in Hindu mythology that show organ donation is not only acceptable, but noble.”

“Wherever I give lectures, I always create awareness about organ and tissue donation. If you can save someone’s life, our scriptures and culture will never stand in the way,” he added.

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