My son saved my life: Man, 22, donates kidney to his sickly Mitchells Plain mom

“My son saved my life, not once but twice.”

A grateful Desirè Esau tells the story about how her son Deyton Davids sacrificed his youth when he donated one of his organs to save her life.

Desirè, 46, from Woodlands in Mitchells Plain was diagnosed with Covid in 2020 and suffered kidney failure soon thereafter.

The mom of three says because her kidney function was only at 10%, she had to go on dialysis treatment.

“I had to do the dialysis treatment four times a day, every three hours, that was until last year when Deyton told me that he wanted to go for the test to see if he is a match,” the emotional ma told the Daily Voice.

“For the transplant you needed to be 21 years old, and that is what he was waiting for.”

Deyton, after undergoing various medical tests, was found to be a perfect match for his mommy and on August 2, the organ transplant operation was successfully performed at Groote Schuur Hospital.

Sunday, Deyton celebrated his 22nd birthday with a big family lunch.

The young man says that he didn’t think twice about giving his kidney to his mom.

“I couldn’t stand seeing my mom suffer for three years. I saw how her energy was greatly reduced, it broke my heart because I knew her as being independent, being both the mother and father figure all my life,” Deyton says.

“So to sacrifice two or three months of healing is nothing.

He also wanted his mom to see him get married and “for her future grandkids to experience her love”.

Deyton, who works as a call centre agent, says he’s also taking a break from going to gym as he recovers but will carry on living as normal.

He recalls the day before the operation when doctors told them that his mom needed to go to ICU after the operation, because her heart strength was only at around 20.

The ideal number is 60 for a medical procedure such as this.

However, when he awoke from the four-hour operation, his mom was being wheeled into the same ward as him.

“The nurse explained that the kidney and the heart immediately started working together and that it was in a perfect condition, so the healing would be easier,” Deyton said.

Their family and God gave them the strength to persevere, the youngster added.

“We had so many prayers going out for us and for that I am thankful,” he said.

Desirè also just knows that God has great plans for her son.

“I can’t stop thanking God. I also haven’t stopped asking Him for forgiveness, because I fell pregnant with Deyton at a young age and I was so scared that I thought of abortion,” she explained.

“But that moment I held him, I knew he saved me and now he did it again, literally.”

The proud mom jokes with her son: “Now I have a part of you forever, there’s no escape.”

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