Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar, who died of a massive heart attack on Friday at the age of 46, had wanted to donate his eyes after his death just like his parents had done.
His family has honoured his wish and he became the 3rd member of his family to donate his eyes after his late father Dr Rajkumar in 2006 and his mother Parvathamma in 2017.
Amidst deep grief, Puneeth’s brother Raghavendra had rung up Dr Bhujang Shetty to retrieve the late actor’s eyes. Dr Shetty also happens to be the same doctor who retrieved the eyes of both Dr Rajkumar in 2006 and Parvathamma in 2017.
Dr Shetty told journalists that the corneas have to be removed within six hours of the death of a person. Puneeth died at 2.30 pm and the harvest was done at 2.45. His corneas were intact and they will be used for needy patients as the earlies, Dr Shetty added.
Puneeth Rajkumar's eyes were given to the Dr Rajkumar Eye Bank (Narayana Nethralaya Eye Hospital) located in Rajajinagar, Bengaluru. Dr Shetty is the founder and chairman of Narayana Nethralaya that owns the eye bank.
Puneeth’s friend and actor Chetan Kumar, also pledged to donate his eyes. He tweeted, "While I was at hospital to see Appu Sir, a medical group came to remove his eyes in 6-hour window after death Appu Sir—like Dr Rajkumar & @NimmaShivanna—donated his eyes. Following in their footsteps & in Appu Sir’s memory, we must all pledge to donate our #eyes as well. I do so."
