Thirty-year-old Bhutanese national Tilak Gurung has survived what doctors are calling a “rarest of the rare” medical event after a highly complex kidney transplant was successfully performed at Narayana Hospital, Kolkata. Both Tilak and his donor—his father—suffer from Factor VII deficiency, an extremely rare genetic bleeding disorder that makes major surgery life-threatening.
Tilak had been suffering from persistently low haemoglobin for months. Despite repeated transfusions, his numbers did not improve. Detailed investigations revealed that his kidneys had failed, and further tests identified the underlying cause: Factor VII deficiency. It’s a condition so rare that transplant options become severely limited. The diagnosis left the family in crisis,
as doctors warned that conventional transplant protocols would be inadequate and risky.
When the family began evaluating donor options, additional complications surfaced. Tests showed that several members of Tilak’s family had the same bleeding disorder, including his father, who insisted he wanted to donate a kidney. The presence of this disorder in both donor and recipient posed significant surgical challenges. Multiple medical centres abroad reportedly informed the family that the surgery would not be possible.
In search of a solution, the Gurung family approached Narayana Hospital in Kolkata. A multidisciplinary transplant team led by Dr Deepak Sekhar Roy evaluated the case and decided to attempt the procedure after extensive preparation and counselling. Doctors had to plan around high risks of uncontrolled bleeding for both Tilak and his father throughout the surgery.
The transplant was successfully performed, and both patient and donor have recovered. According to Tilak, the surgery has given him “a second life”. Speaking to News18, Tilak said: “I am very happy that I am alive today. It was not easy, but everyone helped—especially the hospital.”
Tilak’s brother, Danmay Gurung, expressed gratitude to the medical team and acknowledged the financial support provided by Bhutan’s King. “Thanks to the entire team, my brother is alive today. Special thanks to my King who provided the entire money,” he said.
Tilak is from Bhutan’s royal town, and the family has publicly thanked the Bhutanese authorities for their assistance during the crisis.
Dr Roy told News18: “It is a rarest of rare case. The resident doctors at Narayana worked extremely hard. Because of the bleeding disorder, the surgery was extremely difficult. We were performing a kidney transplant on a patient who had a very high chance of losing his life.”
The successful procedure is being regarded as a significant achievement in complex transplant surgery involving coagulation disorders.
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