Story By: Sergiu Nazaru, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
A teenager with a serious kidney condition will lead a normal life after the parents of a brain-dead 10-month-old child agreed to donate his organs.
The transplant, involving a team of over 20 medical professionals, took place at the Hospital Doctor C.I. Parhon in city of Iasi in the north-eastern Romanian county of the same name.
Hospital spokesperson Ionut Nistor told Central European News (CEN): “The surgery finished at noon on 19th July, and 48 hours after the operation the patient is responding well.”
Nistor added that he doesn’t know much about the donor because the information was confidential, but said that the boy was probably involved in an accident, as happens with 90 percent of cases.
He added that the 10-month-old baby is Romania’s youngest ever brain-dead donor.
Sorina Giosanu, the mother of 14-year-old patient Gabriel, said she was overjoyed that the operation was a success, but very sad that someone so young died for her son to live.
After three previous false alarms regarding a possible donor, the teen’s mother said: “I always had hope in my heart. We always hoped the phone would ring for us again.
“My mother’s intuition gave me strength to remain optimistic. If you are a mother, you can feel it and I believed this was the right time.
“My son didn’t really believe it, he said ‘it’s not true, I’m not lucky’, but this time he really was.”
The mother said: “It is hard to say whether I was happy or sad (when she got the call) because the donor was a baby.
“I was always aware that for my child to live, someone had to die, but I didn’t expect that a baby would give life to my boy.
“I was happy for my son, but at the same time I was upset that a mother was crying for her baby. I thank his parents from the bottom of my heart.
She added: “I hope God blesses them with another child.”
Sorina said: “Gabriel always dreamed of being a footballer, but there was a period when he couldn’t even walk due to his condition.
“He always asked me ‘why aren’t I normal like everyone else at school?’ I was lucky that he was a brave boy who fought very hard.”
Sorina said that her son found out he had a serious kidney condition when he was seven years old during a routine check-up at school.
Ionut Nistor told CEN: “The surgery was extraordinary, firstly because it was on a weekend, secondly, and most importantly because the donor was so young.
“Thanks to my colleagues, the surgery went well. Usually, such an operation takes around four hours, but this one took seven hours.”
Nistor said about the donor’s parents: “It was an act you can’t compare with anything else in the world.”
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