Cape Town - A double organ recipient, 14-year-old Aloshay Arendse from Kraaifontein, beamed when talking about how her life dramatically changed after a lifesaving transplant earlier this year.
Organ transplant surgeons from Tygerberg Hospital, Groote Schuur Hospital, and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital gathered with past patients and donor recipients to highlight the lifesaving importance of organ donation, this National Organ Donor Awareness Month.
The event took place at Tygerberg Hospital on Tuesday.
Aloshay’s mother, Candice, said her daughter had her first liver transplant at one year and seven months old. However, 12 years later, she became ill and her liver was no longer fully functioning.
Southern African Transplantation Society president, professor Mignon Mcculloch, said the country had a low donation rate at about 2% to 3% – one of the lowest in the world.
Tygerberg Hospital executive head of surgery, Professor Elmin Steyn, said the adult waiting list had grown exponentially in the past 20 to 30 years due to lifestyle diseases.
June 20 marked the 31st year since Madeline van Schalkwyk, 56, from Eerste River had her kidney transplant at Tygerberg Hospital.
“Before my kidney transplant, I was very sick. I was swollen. I couldn’t go out with my family and friends because I was sick. To the family who donated the kidney to me, I want to say thank you so much because that changed my life. I couldn’t walk properly. I was very sick, but this kidney changed my life entirely. If it wasn’t for God and the donation, it would’ve been different.”
Over a 10-year period, the three hospitals have performed more than 659 adult and paediatric transplant surgeries, which include heart, kidney, cornea, and liver transplants.
In 1967, Groote Schuur Hospital performed the first heart transplant. In 1968, the hospital, and Red Cross performed the first renal transplant, and in 2014, Tygerberg Hospital performed the first successful penis transplant.
Tygerberg Hospital Medical manager Dr Kurt Maart said behind the surgeons was a multidisciplinary team of nursing staff, porters and dedicated personnel preparing for the surgery.
Paediatric surgeon at Red Cross, Dr Thozama Siyotula, said: “When I think of organ donation and transplant it reminds me that inside every organ is a heartbeat.
“The recovery process, watching the children gain back full ability of daily activities – the new organs allow them to fully engage with the world in a way they are meant to as children. Children are resilient; this creates a passion for me to always advocate for their health care.”
Groote Schuur Hospital general surgeon Dr Tinus du Toit said: “As a transplant community, we want to encourage South Africans to have those difficult discussions with their closest friends, their nearest family, so everyone is on the same page when it comes to their wishes going forward.”