Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Donated liver gives boy new lease of life
FIVE years ago, Lwandle Hlubi was given six months to live. He was only two months old.
His mother, Thulisile Gumbi, of Mdeni extension in Soweto, never thought she would see the day that her little boy reached his developmental milestones, let alone went to school.
“I never thought this day would come. I thank God every day,” she said fighting back her tears on his first day attending preschool this week.
Little Lwandle was diagnosed with a liver condition at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital in March 2010. Gumbi, then a first-time mother, recalled how her son’s health suddenly deteriorated.
“His eyes changed and became yellow. His tummy grew. He bled from the mouth. I didn’t know what was going on. I didn’t know what to do.”
When she took her sick baby to hospital, doctors discovered that her son’s liver was badly compromised.
Tests were run, a devastating liver condition was diagnosed, and Lwandle was placed on the waiting list for a donor liver. Medical staff at the Donald Gordon Medical Centre continued to assess his case.
Gumbi said the waiting was agonising. “I remember them telling me that if we don’t get a liver within six months that he would die. They said he needed one as soon as possible.”
It was only at the end of 2013 that Lwandle was thrown a lifeline. A perfect match had been found.
“Looking back at the experience with my child I would say he raised me. He unleashed the strength that I never thought I had. Going forward I’d like to see him grow up to be a good man. That’s all I want,” his relieved mother said.
Lwandle will be on medication for the rest of his life, and although Gumbi said that worried her, especially since he wouldn’t be home with her all day, she had worked out a plan. She hands over Lwandle’s anti-rejection pills to his driver, who in turns hands them to the school.
His medication has to be taken between 8am and 8pm daily.
But despite all his mother’s concerns, Lwandle’s only focus on his first day at the Asha preschool in Tladi on Wednesday was making friends and celebrating the life he has – complete with a big smile.
● Visit the Organ Donor Foundation at www.odf.org.za