Liver and let live: Kraaifontein meisie, 14, gets double organ transplant

This teenager is excited to start her “new life” after being the recipient of a double organ transplant operation.

Aloshay Arendse, 14, from Kraaifontein had been sickly most of her life but says she has a new lease on life after she received a combined liver and kidney transplant in January, thanks to a generous donor.

“I can do sports now, I’m playing netball and I can’t wait to swim in the summer,” Aloshay explains.

She was speaking at an event on Tuesday to mark National Organ Donor Awareness Month.

Organ recipients at Tygerberg, Groote Schuur Hospital and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital have shared how their surgeries and the ongoing medical care by the hospitals have changed their lives.

Over a 10-year period, the hospitals have performed over 659 adult and paediatric transplant surgeries, which include heart, kidney, cornea and liver transplants.

Aloshay’s mom Candice said that her daughter had her first liver transplant only a year-and-seven-months old, but sadly 12 years later, her donated liver also ceased to function.

“She was limited to physical activities, she couldn’t do what other kids did. Aloshay has been a patient of Red Cross Hospital her whole life, it’s been a rollercoaster but the joy part was the best,” Candice explained.

Patients can wait up to five years to find a suitable donor but in most instances, family members are matched, especially for kidneys, and the operations are done quickly.

Currently there are an estimated 60 to 70 patients across South Africa waiting for a kidney.

Professor Elmin Steyn, executive head of surgeries at Tygerberg, says she has participated in more than 1 000 transplants, locally and internationally.

“Being a transplant surgeon is a huge privilege as we do surgery that changes people’s lives for the better. The limiting factor is finding those precious spare parts that are desperately needed,” Steyn says.

Another grateful recipient is Madeline van Schalkwyk, 56, from Eerste Rivier, who received her kidney transplant in 1992 when she was 25 years old and a newlywed.

“When I was born, my kidneys were covered in water. I was very sick and had constant headaches, I was very swollen. My life completely changed after my kidney transplant,” Madeline says.

“I am no longer sick and I can enjoy the normal things in life. I follow a strict dietary eating plan and come for follow-ups every second month.”

Organ transplant surgeons are continuing to make a huge difference by getting patients off dialysis, addressing diabetes, or improving their quality of life.

Shirley Coetzee, transplant coordinator at Tygerberg Hospital, believes that it is not an easy road but it is worth it.

“In the end, after the transplant, that is my highlight –to see your patient is improving and to see that organ is working and that smile and hope on the patient’s face,” she adds.

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