Mateen Hafeez & Sumitra Deb Roy,TNN | Sep 30, 2014, 12.09 AM IST

MUMBAI: Kavita Karkare (57), wife of ATS chief Hemant Karkare who fell to terrorist bullets on the night of 26/11, gave life to three individuals in her death. The mother of three passed away on Monday morning after suffering a brain stroke.

Kavita, who used to teach BEd at a Tardeo college, was declared brain dead two days after she was rushed to P D Hinduja Hospital in Mahim in an unconscious state.

She suffered a brain haemorrhage (bleeding) on Saturday after which she never regained consciousness. A doctor said her brain was completely devoid of blood supply following the haemorrhage. She also had a history of cardiac ailments.

She was kept on ventilator till her daughters flew in from the US early on Monday. The siblings decided to donate their mother’s organs to help needy patients.

One of her kidneys went to a 48-year-old man who had been surviving with the help of dialysis for nearly a decade. He had registered for the organ last March.

The recipient of the other kidney was a 59-year-old at Jaslok Hospital who had been waiting for a transplant for seven years.

Karkare also gave a new lease of life to a 49-year-old man who has been battling liver failure for a couple of years and had registered for the organ at Kokilaben Ambani Hospital last December.

All three surgeries were on at the time of going to press. Kavita’s eyes were donated to Haji Bachooali Eye Bank in Parel.

Doctors at Hinduja said Kavita’s children Akash, Sayali and Jui showed great courage in taking the decision at a time of grief. When TOI contacted the family, Sayli said they would not want to speak to the press at this moment.

Kavita had first met Hemant Karkare during a personality development programme organized by the National Productivity Council, where he was a speaker.

The slain ATS chief was a professor before becoming an IPS officer. After Karkare passed away, the family continued staying at his official residence, the European Quarters, at Dadar (E).

During an interview to TOI on November 26, 2009, a year after Karkare died in the attack, Kavita had recalled her last meeting with her husband. “For the first time in a month and a half, Hemant and I were having dinner together on November 26, 2008.Hemant got a call saying there was trouble at CST. He grabbed his shoes and got into the car,” she had said.

He was killed near Cama Hospital. She later questioned the authorities over why no help had reached her husband and fellow officers as they stood outside Cama Hospital for over 40 minutes.

Her funeral will be held in Worli at 7.30am on Tuesday.