Rizwan Ali runs around his home in Barasat like any other two-year-old. But one year ago he had undergone a liver transplant at Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals.

He is the youngest liver transplant survivor of eastern India. He attended a press conference with his mother organized by Apollo Gleneagles.

Apollo Gleneagles also introduced the first in-house, dedicated liver transplant unit at any hospital in eastern India. Led by transplant surgeon Dr. Ramdip Ray, the team comprises vastly experienced surgeons Dr. Sumit Gulati and Dr. Supriyo Ghatak.

Rizwan used to suffer from a congenital defect called extrahepatic biliary atresia. This is a condition where the bile formed in the liver does not flow into the intestine due to the absence of bile ducts, leading to gradual and irreversible liver damage and subsequent development of infantile cirrhosis of the liver. The only option for him was to get a liver transplant.

When the family learned this, the mother, Rina Bibi, then 27 years old, donated her liver to gift her son a new life.

It is crucial that parents are able to recognize signs of biliary atresia, which includes deep yellow urine and whitish stool. The earlier the condition is diagnosed, the better is the outcome.

The boy had developed a viral lung infection post the transplant surgery and his condition had turned serious but a multi-disciplinary team at Apollo Gleneagles was able to cure him.