Yasmina from Serbia wanted to give her kidney to her husband; but there was no harmony between her and her husband. Saba, a young Georgian, wanted to donate her kidney to her stepfather. There was no renal compatibility among them. Families from Georgia and Serbia came to Turkey and applied to Istanbul Okan University Hospital for cross-transplantation. Procedures were carried out by General Surgery Specialist Prof. Dr. Alp Gürkan successfully.
Cross kidney transplant surgery brought the citizens of the two countries together in Turkey. Saba from Georgia wanted to donate her kidney for her stepfather Musa Bey, but her kidneys did not match. They also wanted to do a cross kidney transplant. Yasmina wanted to donate her kidney for her husband, but there was no harmony. They also wanted to do a cross kidney transplant and came to Turkey.
Families from Serbia and Georgia met in Istanbul for a cross kidney transplant. Emil and his wife from Serbia started an aid campaign in their country for kidney transplant and collected the necessary money with the campaign. Yasmina from Serbia donated her kidney to Musa Bey, while Saba from Georgia donated her kidney to Emil. A young Georgian donated his kidney to his Turkish stepfather.
Donation completed in 18 days
Expressing his feelings, Emil said, “I had dialysis for 1.5 years. From now on, I want to continue my life as normal. Cross transplants are not very common in Serbia. I wanted to have surgery here because I know that Turkish doctors are good and I am very happy. I was scared at first because my wife donated her kidney. But we always trusted the doctors here. Of course, getting here was not easy. A donation campaign was organized for the transfer. It spread in a short time and the amount required for me to come was completed in 18 days. We would like to thank Mr. Alp and his team very much.” Yasmina, who donated her kidney for her husband, said, “Everything went as we wanted. I am very happy that my husband is well. We had come with his father before. But there was no conflict. Since there was no match with me, we wanted to have a cross transplant.”
‘My step-son wanted to donate his kidney’
Musa Bektaşoğlu, who cannot walk or climb the stairs, said, “I went to my controls because my feet were swollen. They told me that I had kidney failure in my kidneys in Georgia and directed me to a hospital with full gratitude. They wanted me to go to Turkey. They said that Turkey would be more successful in treatment. We just arrived in Turkey. I had dialysis for 3 months. My stepson didn’t want me to have any more dialysis. He said he wanted to donate his kidney. It’s a very honor and proud act he did. We got cross-transplanted. We came from Serbia and Georgia and met here. We would also like to thank the other family.”
We applied cross transplant for the first time in Turkey
General Surgery Specialist and Head of Organ Transplantation Department Prof. Dr. Alp Gürkan said, “Cross kidney transplantation is a very good alternative for families who are living donors but cannot be transplanted due to blood group or tissue incompatibility. I applied this method for the first time in Turkey and I am one of the ones who use it the most in our country. For this reason, many patients apply to our center for transplantation with this method. We collect these candidates in a pool. Since our pool is large, it is easy to make matches. We even cooperate with other centers from time to time. This time we crossed families from Georgia and Serbia. This is the first couple in our country to have cross-transplanted 2 families from abroad. Previously, cross-section was done with those who came from abroad and were Turkish citizens, but for the first time, 2 foreign patients met in our country and had the chance to have a cross transplant. The transfers were very successful. For this reason, both families are very happy and as a team, we are proud to achieve another first.”
