A LIFELINE…BY MOHAN FOUNDATION

First India brings you an inside look at the national organ donation helpline run by the MOHAN Foundation, working tirelessly to spread awareness and support the life-saving cause of organ donation and transplant. Through its dedicated helpline — 1800 103 7100 — the initiative offers guidance, counselling and information, helping bridge hope between donors, recipients and families across the country.

The phone rings just after dawn.

At the other end is a trembling voice. A middle-aged man has lost his mother only a few hours earlier at home. The house is filling with relatives, prayers are being whispered, and preparations for the final rites have begun. In the middle of grief and confusion, the family holds on to one wish — they want to donate her eyes. But they do not know whom to call, whether donation is still possible after a death at home, or how such a process even begins.

The call reaches the MOHAN Foundation National Organ Donation and Transplant Toll-Free Helpline — 1800 103 7100.

The counsellor who answers speaks softly, patiently, offering condolences. She explains that eye and skin donation can still take place at home if done within a few hours. She reassures the family that there will be no disfigurement and that the process will be carried out with dignity and respect. Even as she comforts the grieving son, she begins coordinating urgently behind the scenes — calling the nearest eye bank and skin bank, arranging retrieval teams, guiding the family through consent formalities, and ensuring that precious time is not lost.

Within a few hours, medical teams arrive quietly at the family’s home. The donation takes place respectfully, almost silently, amid the mourning. Later that evening, after the rituals are over, the phone rings again at the helpline. It is the same family. Their voices are steadier now.

“Thank you,” they say. “In the middle of our grief, you helped us do something meaningful.”

For the counsellors and volunteers at the MOHAN Foundation helpline, this is not an unusual day.

Every call that comes to the helpline carries a story — sometimes of loss, sometimes of hope, and often of both together. Since its launch in 2012, the toll-free helpline has become an important bridge between the public and the complex world of organ donation and transplantation.

The Helpline handles more than 1,000 calls every month, offering guidance, support, and hope to families across India. Through their nationwide coordination efforts, nearly 100 cornea donations are facilitated every year, helping restore the gift of sight and transforming countless lives.

A young man once called to ask whether his 82-year-old father could still donate his eyes. A mother wanted reassurance that organ donation would not violate religious beliefs. Another caller, after hearing about organ trafficking rumours, needed someone trustworthy to explain the legal and ethical safeguards around transplantation. Often, counsellors realise that what people need most is not only information, but empathy — someone willing to listen without judgment during deeply emotional moments.

The work demands immense emotional strength. Helpline counsellors are trained not only in organ donation procedures and transplant protocols, but also in handling grief with sensitivity. They speak to families who may have just lost a loved one, carefully guiding them through decisions that must often be made within hours. At the same time, they coordinate with hospitals, eye banks, skin banks, transplant centres, and retrieval teams across cities and states, ensuring that every possible donation opportunity is supported.

Founded in 1997, MOHAN Foundation — which stands for Multi Organ Hope and A d v o c a c y Network — has played a pioneering role in promoting deceased organ donation in India. Along with awareness campaigns, hospital training, public education programmes, and donor registrations, the helpline remains one of its most compassionate services.

Behind the toll-free number are voices most people will never see. Yet for countless families, those unseen voices become a source of calm during some of life’s hardest hours. They help transform confusion into clarity, fear into reassurance, and grief into an act of generosity that can restore sight, heal burns, or even save lives.

And somewhere, in another home, perhaps in another city, the phone rings once again.

Another family searches for guidance.

Another counsellor quietly answers.

And another story begins.

COUNSELLORS SPEAKS

• How can a helpline counsellor compassionately address fears, myths, and emotional hesitation surrounding organ donation? - DR. SUBASH CHANDRA SARANGI, Organ Donation Ambassador
  A helpline counsellor should listen with empathy, acknowledge emotions without judgment and gently clarify misconceptions with simple facts. Organ donation should be explained as a humane act that can save multiple lives while fully respecting dignity, medical ethics and family values. Reassurance, patience and compassionate dialogue often help transform fear into informed understanding and hope.
• What does a typical day at the helpline look like, and how unpredictable can the calls sometimes be? - KAVITHA ANEESH
  As a counselor, I always stay alert and ensure my availability during scheduled timings. However, balancing multiple important tasks can sometimes feel hectic and exhausting. Continuous back-to-back calls may become draining, and missing a call often brings guilt, thinking it could have been a potential donor call. Despite these challenges, I remain highly excited and passionate about potential tissue donation work.
• When people call the helpline during moments of fear, confusion, or grief, how do you emotionally prepare yourself to support them? - DR.BHANU PRAKASH, Senior Transplant Coordinator, Hyderabad
  Before answering, I take a deep breath and pray to God for the strength to bring comfort. I completely involve myself in the caller’s situation to truly understand their pain. By keeping my own emotions aside, I can speak with patience and compassion, offering them clear guidance and a supportive voice during their toughest moment.
• Can you share an experience where a single phone call stayed with you and reminded you why this work matters? - SANCHIT ARORA
  One call I still remember was from a son in Meerut who wanted to fulfi l his critically ill father’s wish of organ donation. The family shifted him to GIMS Noida, another government hospital nearly 100 km away, only to honour this selfl ess decision. Although donation could not happen due to medical complications, their courage, trust, and humanity during such grief deeply reminded me why this work matters. What touched me most was that the son still remains in touch with me.

HEMAL KANVINDE

• What kind of calls does the helpline most commonly receive?
  More than 50% of the callers speak in Hindi. Majority of the callers are seeking help to get an organ and fi nding a hospital for treatment. The next set of callers ask about organ donation and pledging processes.
• What are the challenges you face in the Helpline?
  One of the biggest challenges of running the helpline is that it is emotionally exhausting work. People often call in deep despair when they cannot fi nd a living donor match or are waiting anxiously for a liver or other organ transplant, with waiting lists sometimes stretching over a year. Our counsellors have to remain positive, calm and supportive every single day, despite hearing distressing stories regularly.
  We currently answer queries in eight languages, and we hope to expand further so that people across India can access reliable guidance in their own language. Another challenge is the lack of functioning eye banks in many districts, which limits our ability to help families fulfi l their wish for eye donation. We also receive calls from senior citizens seeking information on body donation, many of whom simply need emotional reassurance and someone patient enough to guide them. Every call is different, and balancing information, empathy and coordination is both challenging and deeply meaningful.
• How important is a dedicated helpline like 1800 103 7100 in creating awareness and building trust about organ donation among the public?
  The helpline’s importance is unmatchable. It caters to people in search of correct information, at the end of a call. It gives strength and hope to people with organ failure that there is a viable option of a transplant. For families facing organ failure, the helpline offers hope and guidance about transplant options during some of the most diffi cult moments of their lives. For those wishing to donate the eyes or body of a loved one, it provides compassionate support and coordination when emotions are overwhelming. Even individuals who want to pledge their own organs are patiently guided through the process. More than just information, the helpline builds trust, empathy and confi dence around organ donation.
• What are some small but meaningful moments at the helpline that the public may never see or know about?
  It was amazing when the helpline got a call about body donation of a 97 year old gentleman from Tamil Nadu, turns out that he was a freedom fi ghter and had donated his wife’s body to Govt Medical College. We were very proud to have coordinated and supported his family for his ultimate gift to society. Another instance about the counselor supporting a rural family in Haryana fulfi ll their wish by coordinating with an eye bank and making them travel nearly 200 km to do a cornea retrieval.
  Is it very heartening to see a frightened caller with a organ failure diagnosis calm down with the information provided and is able to view his/her future in a positive light.

Dr Anita Hada, Helpline Volunteer