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In the Loir-et-Cher, it is the story of a kidney transplant between two sisters: so that she can find a normal life, without dialysis, Martine, 62, will donate one of her kidneys to Muriel, 63 year. “Special Envoy” followed them before, during and after the operation. In this excerpt, it’s the big day…
Three times a week, to filter her blood and rid it of toxins, Muriel had to spend four hours on dialysis. At 63, severe kidney failure had affected his daily life for three years. Her “little sister”, who is a year younger than her and lucky enough to be in perfect health, has decided to offer her one of her kidneys. To give as well as to receive an organ, the age limit continues to be pushed back. “Special Envoy” followed them both to the University Hospital of Tours, during “the last meters of a long race”.
Two years after Muriel’s registration on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, for the recipient and the donor, it is the last consultation before the operating room. The doctor prefers to prevent them: the risk “that the graft does not take at all (…) exists, it is not zero. This risk is about 1 in 50”. This risk worries Muriel… especially for her sister, who would then have lost a kidney for nothing. Especially since for the latter, the operation will be more painful than for the recipient – who will still undergo three to four hours of operation.
Every year, the lack of grafts claims the lives of 600 people
The separation, the day before the intervention, when each must return to their hospital room, “this is the most difficult moment” for Muriel. She struggles to contain her emotion. Then everything will go as planned. The following morning, while a first team takes Martine’s kidney, another team, in an adjoining room, prepares Muriel to receive the graft immediately. “He is handsome”, the surgeon reassures her. But it’s up to her sister she thought “whole morning”…before I could tell her “a big thank you” leaving the recovery room.
In France, more than 26,000 people are waiting for a transplant. Each year, the lack of grafts costs the life of more than 600 of them. The transplants that give the best results are those of organs taken from living donors, as in the case of Muriel and Martine.
Excerpt from “Organ donation, save those we love”, a report to see in “Special Envoy” on September 29, 2022.
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