An Emirati’s dying wish saves 4 lives in Saudi

ABU DHABI — An Emirati’s dying wish to donate his organs helped save four lives in Saudi Arabia.

The 41-year-old was rushed to Al Ain’s Tawam Hospital after he was injured in a road accident.

While undergoing treatment, the Emirati conveyed to his doctors that he wanted to donate his organs.

After he died, his medical team extracted his heart, liver and two kidneys in three surgeries that lasted six hours. The organs were airlifted to the Saudi Arabian Centre for Organ Transplantation and helped save the lives of four Saudis.

“What the Emirati donor did was really extraordinary. He gave a new lease of life to four patients,” Muhreb Mahdi Al Onazi, head of nursing services at the Saudi Arabian centre, told Khaleej Times.

abu dhabi — Body organs donated by an Emirati man who died in an accident helped save lives of four people in Saudi Arabia, according to a medical official.

The 41-year-old Emirati man died at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain last week from stroke after a traffic accident. But before his death, the man said he wanted to donate his body organs. And immediately after his death, the medical team extracted his heart, liver and two kidneys in three surgeries that lasted for six hours.

In a phone interview with Khaleej on Wednesday, Muhreb Mahdi Al Onazi, head of nursing services at the Saudi Arabian Centre for Organ Transplantation who was part of the Saudi medical team, said the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) had contacted them after knowing that there were people in urgent need for the organs in Saudi Arabia.

“After assessing the situation, a team of 10 medical experts was immediately flown to Al Ain in a special plane and carried out the operation to remove the body organs from the donor. It took about six hours,” said Al Onazi.

“The team then immediately flew back to Saudi Arabia with the organs, including a heart, kidneys and a liver, and were taken to the four recipients who were already waiting in different hospitals.”

Al Onazi said the patients, including men and women, suffered from heart failure, kidney failure and liver failure. The Saudi Arabian nationals had spent time on treatment as medical authorities looked for potential organ donors.

“All transplant operations went on smoothly and the four patients are now in good health condition,” said Al Onazi, adding that this was a timely intervention as the patients urgently needed the organs to save their lives.

All transplant operations went on smoothly and the four patients are now in good health condition.” Muhreb Mahdi Al Onazi head of nursing services, Saudi Arabian Centre for Organ Transplantation