CHENNAI: The parents of a four-month-old boy who became Tamil Nadu’s youngest whole-body donor were presented with a certificate of recognition by Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Dean M Kavitha on Monday.

The certificate was given to Khamrudeen Jalaludeen (28) and Jennifer Jagannathan (26), whose infant son Yovan’s body was donated to the medical college earlier this month for medical education and research.

Dr Kavitha said the donation marked the youngest whole-body donor recorded in the State and reflected a gradual change in public attitudes towards body donation. The couple said they had hoped their son would grow up to become a doctor. When that dream ended with his death, they decided he could still contribute to the medical profession.

“Since that could not happen, we wanted him to be useful to doctors. At least medical students can study his case and perhaps save other babies in the future,” Jalaludeen said.

Yovan was born on November 1. Jalaludeen said the baby was diagnosed with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE), a severe brain injury caused by reduced oxygen supply to the brain. Despite this, the infant fought for survival for months, requiring frequent medical care.

Jennifer said the baby was delivered through an emergency caesarean section due to umbilical cord prolapse. The infant required oxygen support from birth and had to be fed through a nasogastric tube as he struggled to breathe and feed normally. Despite suffering a cardiac arrest in his second month and recurring breathing difficulties, he continued treatment until he died on March 4.

This story has been written by Sinduja Jane of The New Indian Express.