What’s been deemed a first for Africa, has paved the way for kidney transplants going forward. A Mitchell’s Plain woman, Chevon Meyer, is the fortunate recipient of a new kidney. What makes her story significant is that her transplant was able to be conducted without her donor having a matching blood type.
This was made possible by the life-saving innovation called Glycosorb. Before this filter was introduced, a kidney transplant was only possible if the donor was from a compatible blood group.
It hasn’t been an easy journey for Meyer. She was admitted to Mowbray Maternity Hospital, in December 2013, where she was due to give birth to her third child. However, she suffered a stillbirth and her kidneys subsequently failed. She was immediately transferred to Groote Schuur Hospital for treatment. She was then placed on the renal dialysis treatment programme, and has been on dialysis since then. This is a procedure to remove waste products and excess fluid from the blood, when the kidneys stop working properly.
It’s the first time this process has been conducted in Africa. Dr Zunaid Barday is the kidney specialist who performed the kidney transplant and used the Glycosorb filter. It’s something that’s been used in Europe for some years. #smile904fmnews pic.twitter.com/vnOCTfBSNH
— Smile90.4 FM (@Smile904FM) February 20, 2023
Up until the 25th of January – when her kidney transplant was performed – the Rocklands mother formed part of 1 900 people on renal dialysis treatment, of whom 500 are awaiting kidney transplants.
Meyer is glad to finally be able to return to work, and to be able to lead a normal, pain-free life:
“My life has changed. I can finally go work. No more dialysis. No more struggling. No more begging. I am healthy, finally,” says Meyer.
Her 24-year-old brother is the one who was kind enough to donate one of his kidneys.
“It was a tough road. It was emotional, because he’s still very young and I don’t know how I could ever repay him for what he did for me. I can just thank the Almighty, thank my brother, thank the doctors, the surgeons, for this new opportunity for me to achieve all my goals and dreams, ” adds Meyer.
Her kidney specialist, Dr Zunaid Barday, has been in the medical profession for 29 years. He has worked as a kidney specialist for the past 16 years.
“The Groote Schuur Hospital transplant team are excited to be able to bring this technology to our patients, allowing more patients access to transplantation, and continuing our proud legacy of innovation in transplantation. With this filter, we can now safely transplant many patients across incompatible blood groups, which was an absolute barrier previously. This will allow potential living kidney donors who were turned down previously, because they were the wrong blood group for the person they wanted to donate to come forward again to be retested.”
READ MORE: Heart-warming: Brother’s gift of love marks milestone 800th kidney transplant
