On the day of his 7th birthday, Vladyk from Ternopil Oblast performed a life-saving operation by the team of the Transplantology Center of the First Medical Association of Lviv. Now the boy is preparing to fulfill another dream of his – to go to the first grade healthy.
Vladyk became the smallest patient who received a kidney transplant from a posthumous donor at the Transplantology Center in Lviv.
The boy dreamed of such a gift all last year, which he spent in the hospital. Due to a developmental defect – hypoplasia, Vladyk’s kidneys were very small from birth, and eventually stopped working altogether. The boy had to be on dialysis. Several times a week for four hours, the function of the kidneys was performed by a special device that cleansed the blood of toxins and excess fluid. All this time Vladyk was hardly at home and could not attend kindergarten, instead he was constantly undergoing procedures in hospitals. The boy believed that one day the doctors would do everything to save him. And so it happened.
On Vladyk’s 7th birthday, the family got a call and said: there is a donor kidney for your boy. In the middle of the night, mother and son arrived at St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital. The donor was a man who received life-threatening injuries. He could not be saved. But his relatives agreed to give a chance at life to other people. Among them is the little Vladyk.
“Transplantation has begun. This is the second such operation for this child. Three years ago, Vladyka underwent a family transplant. Then the father became the donor. But, unfortunately, that kidney did not function for long. Carrying out repeated transplants requires special skills from doctors. Because as a result of the previous transplant, there are scar processes that complicate repeated operations. In addition, children’s blood vessels are very small, and working with them requires jewelry precision,” the doctors explain.
The surgeons completed Vladyk’s operation only in the morning, and they succeeded in everything. Already two weeks after the transplant, Vladyk returned home healthy and with his new shoulder bag, which was given to him by the doctors. Now another boy’s dream will come true – he will go to school.
By the way, 4 children per 1 million population need kidney transplants every year. In order to be able to save all young patients with such ailments, doctors urge Ukrainians to consent to posthumous donation.