The father became a donor for his son to save his life. An autoimmune disease destroyed the boy’s kidneys, confined him to hospitals for years and deprived him of a normal childhood. The family kidney transplant was performed by the team of the Transplantology Center of the First Medical Association of Lviv.
Sashka Kozula from Volhynia is already 15 years old. The last five passed not at the school desk and not at the favorite game of football with peers, but in the hemodialysis room and hospital wards. It all started with the fact that Sashko developed edema and the amount of urine decreased. And over time, the kidneys completely failed. The cause was an autoimmune disease – systemic lupus erythematosus. In this disease, the immune system produces antibodies that attack and destroy healthy cells, tissues and organs of the body. This can lead, in particular, to kidney, heart and lung failure. It was Saška’s kidneys that failed and their function for years — several times a week, performed by the apparatus.
Only a new organ transplant could save the boy. Sashka’s family turned to the Transplantology Center of the First Medical Association of Lviv for help. Here, the young man had a planned kidney transplant a year ago. The father was ready to become a donor – his organ was perfect for his son. However, on the eve of the operation, Sashko fell ill with covid and weakened even more. The child’s condition did not allow for a transplant. And it worsened so much that the young man ended up in intensive care.
Since then, a difficult and long period of treatment began, in order to win a period of remission from the disease and carry out a transplant. After many months of round-the-clock medical care, Sasha’s condition was stabilized. During the so-called transplant window, the team of the Transplantology Center begins the long-awaited transplant.
In two operating rooms next to each other – father and son. Surgeons removed dad’s kidney laparoscopically through a small incision to speed up his recovery. The family transplant lasted more than 6 hours. The father’s kidney started working in his son’s body just on the operating table. Everything went well. And already on the eighth day, Sasha was discharged.
The doctors prepared a special gift for the young man – a soccer ball with the signatures of the entire team of his saviors, and just in the transplant department – they played together. Later, he will be able to chase the ball with his peers. And in the future, Sashko dreams of meeting the players of Shakhtar, which is his favorite football team. In the meantime, the first thing he wants to do after the transplant is to go fishing with his dad and grandfather and go back to school — he’s in the 11th grade this year.