‘I thought my baby was going to die’: Mum’s gratitude at life-saving donation

It was an amazing story of survival for baby Jhanvi, desperate for a liver transplant just minutes after birth.

Jhanvi Beejay was just minutes old but already she was dying.

The baby girl from Robinvale had been diagnosed with biliary atresia — a blockage in the tubes that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder.

It was heartbreaking for first time mum Vino Manisekaran and dad Beejay Permalla.

They’d imagined taking her home and enjoying time with their new bub but instead her condition was deteriorating.

She needed surgery and she needed it quickly.

“This is not what I should have been doing, I should be spending time with my new baby, this should be a happy time,” Ms Manisekaran said.

Jhanvi was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne where she underwent a nine-hour surgery to try to alleviate her condition.

It wasn’t enough. She needed a new liver.

Newborn baby Jhanvi before getting her liver transplant. Picture: Supplied / DonateLife Victoria

Every day for the next ten months, Ms Manisekaran prayed, fully aware that saving her daughter could mean the ultimate sacrifice for someone else.

“I was praying every day for my baby, but also I know something terrible has to happen to someone else, so is it unfair for me to ask for this?” she said.

Ms Manisekaran had almost given up hope when, just before midnight, the crucial call from DonateLife Victoria came through.

“I thought my baby is going to die, then I get a call,” she said.

“They’d found a liver for my baby.

“I’m just so grateful, I don’t have the words.”

Mum Vino and dad Beejay with their daughter Jhanvi Manisekaran after she’d gotten a new liver. Picture: Supplied / DonateLife Victoria.

But while Jhanvi was in surgery, more heartbreak came.

Both parents tested positive for Covid-19.

They couldn’t see their daughter for seven days while they isolated.

“During those seven days, I couldn’t stop thinking about my daughter being all alone,” Ms Manisekaran said.

“She had wonderful nurses but we couldn’t be with her.”

Finally, the isolation period ended and the pair could see their now-healthy daughter.

“Because of the jaundice we never got to see real eye colour,” Ms Manisekaran said.

“After the surgery, I was looking at her thinking ‘this is the first time I’ve seen eyes, and they are so beautiful’.”

Since getting a new liver Jhanvi has returned home to Robinvale and hasn’t had any further complications.

Finally the family has begun a mostly normal life.

“We still have post-transplant appointments, but there has been no rejection... she is happy, healthy and starting to walk, ” Ms Manisekaran said.

“I spent so long in hospital thinking my daughter is going to die — to be home with her is just wonderful.”

To find out how you can join the organ donor register, visit donatelife.gov.au.