Serhiy Kudiy is the fourth Ukrainian who received donor lungs in Ukraine. Just 12 days ago, the man could barely walk a few meters and could not imagine his life without oxygen support. Now he walks more than 4,000 steps every day, breathes deeply and makes plans for the future.
A life-saving donor organ was transplanted to him at the St. Panteleimon Hospital of the First Medical Association of Lviv.
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Serhii Kudiya is 44 years old. He is from Sloviansk, in Donetsk region. He once worked as a bus driver. But two years ago, his health deteriorated sharply: the man rapidly lost weight, he began to have frequent attacks of shortness of breath. Saturation dropped to 80%. Inhalation drugs did not help anymore. The man was diagnosed with chronic obstructive disease of both lungs and total bullous emphysema: numerous air cysts simply replaced healthy lung tissue. A man could not live without an oxygen concentrator.
In the last year, Serhii rarely left his apartment, he was completely dependent on oxygen. He lost 20 kg and lived with the expectation that each new day could be his last. The disease progressed rapidly and took the patient’s last strength.
Serhiy’s wife, Iryna, learned from the news that lungs have recently been transplanted in Ukraine. From Poltava, where the couple lived after the start of the full-scale invasion, the couple came to the transplant specialists in Lviv two months ago. Since then, the couple lived here, waiting to be called to the hospital. One day it happened. Donor lungs appeared for Serhiy.
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The operation began at midnight. All night, the wife waited for her husband at the door of the operating room and said: I will be here until the end. At 10 in the morning, the doctor reported that everything went well. Serhiy’s new lungs turned pink and filled with air just before his eyes. The man began to breathe.
Now, on the 12th day after the transplant, the patient feels very well. He walks a lot and persistently develops his lungs with the help of simulators. Serhiy is making plans for his life, wants to start working again. And after the war, he says, he will definitely return home to Sloviansk. He admits: he dreams of walking the streets of his hometown again with his wife. And, of course, the couple really wants to wait for grandchildren.
Serhii Kudiy received his life-saving lungs from a posthumous donor. He became a 42-year-old resident of Novovolynsk. The man suffered a severe stroke and doctors declared him brain dead. The man’s relatives gave their consent for organ harvesting. In addition to Serhiy, three more lives were saved that night. Read more about this record number of transplants in one night here.
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By the way, lungs were successfully transplanted to four patients in Ukraine. Three transplants, in particular, were carried out in Lviv, at the St. Panteleimon Hospital of the First Medical Association.