20-Year-Old Telangana Student Declared Brain Dead Saves 4 Lives

A 20-year-old engineering student from Telangana has given a new lease of life to four critically ill patients after his family agreed to donate his organs following his death in a road accident.

Pulipalupula Raghava, a resident of Alair in Nalgonda district and a B.Tech student at CJIT Engineering College in Jangaon, suffered severe head injuries after his two-wheeler reportedly collided with a road divider near Cheriyal on May 16, 2026.

He was initially rushed to a nearby private hospital before being shifted to Hyderabad for advanced treatment. Doctors, however, declared him brain dead two days later.

Despite the immense personal loss, Raghava’s father, Pulipalupula Mahesh, consented to donate his son’s organs through the Telangana government’s organ donation initiative, Jeevandan.

The donation helped save four patients, with doctors successfully retrieving two kidneys, a liver and a pair of lungs for transplantation.

The gesture has drawn widespread appreciation across Telangana, with many hailing the family’s decision as an extraordinary act of humanity.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar also praised the family, stating that Raghava had continued to live on through the lives he helped save.

Organ donation advocates say such cases play a crucial role in raising public awareness in India, where the demand for transplant organs continues to exceed availability far.

Under Indian law, brain stem death is legally recognised, allowing organs to be donated with the consent of the deceased person’s family.

According to the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO), India performs one of the highest numbers of transplants in the world.

Yet, the country’s organ donation rate remains significantly lower than that of many Western nations. Experts attribute this largely to a lack of awareness, social stigma and misconceptions surrounding organ donation.

Organ donation organisations, including the MOHAN Foundation, have repeatedly stressed that a single deceased donor can save multiple lives through organ and tissue donation. Awareness campaigns in several southern states, including Telangana and Tamil Nadu, have helped improve public participation in recent years.

ALSO READ | 5 Family Members With Pet Dog Killed In Accident