An attempt to harvest liver from a brain dead donor from a government hospital here had proved futile as the man died before doctors could operate on him last night, they said.
A team from Global Hospitals, where Deshmukh was admitted on August 6, had planned to retrieve the liver from the 31-year-old donor at the hospital, but he died, forcing them to look for another donor, the sources said.
"The hospital is looking for a liver donor," they said.
Asked whether they were desperately looking for a liver, they said, "In a way, yes."
The 67-year-old former Maharashtra Chief Minister had shown signs of improvement and been on and off the ventilator before being prepared for a transplant, the sources said.
Deshmukh was brought here from Mumbai in an air ambulance in a critical condition.
