A 23-year-old Abu Dhabi patient has received a kidney from the family of a young Saudi man who died in a car accident.
The kidney transplant was successfully completed by doctors at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) here recently. The patient, Latifa Sai’ed, has been suffering from kidney failure for 16 years.
According to the UAE state news agency, the organ is functioning normally and she is no longer on dialysis.
Dr. Ali Abdulkareem Al-Obaidli, chief clinical officer, said: “She suffered from a rare syndrome that resulted in kidney failure at the age of 7. Ever since, she had been on dialysis and endured multiple problems and issues common to long-term dialysis patients such as blood clots, inflammation and painful procedures such as catheterization."
"Then word was received that a young man lost his life in a traffic accident in Riyadh. His family immediately decided to donate his organs to help save the lives of those needing organ transplants."
The UAE is a signatory to the Organ Transplantation Agreement between (GCC) countries. The Saudi Commission for Health Specialties and the Saudi Center for Organ Transplantation announced that the organs were available. Tests showed that Latifa was a near perfect tissue match and arrangements were made to harvest the organ and rush it to the UAE by plane.
Al-Obaidli thanked the Saudi and UAE health authorities for making the transplant possible. He also praised the Saudi man's family for their "generous" gesture.
Saudi family donates kidney to Abu Dhabi woman
