Sadness affected by sadness donates son’s kidneys to save two lives

Karachi: In a moment of unthinkable sadness, a female kidney from Karachi gave both kidneys of only her 23 -year -old son, who was declared a brain dead after a tragic road accident, saving the lives of two patients waiting for transplantation, The news reported on Thursday.

The dead, Syed Sultan Zafar, 23, was a dentist at Ziauddin Medical and Dental College and his only son Dr. Mahar Afroze, a nephrologist and an Associate Professor at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplant (Siut).

He was the grandson of two of the highly respected Pakistani health experts – Professor Tipu Sultan and Professor Dr Shershah Syed.

According to Prof Tipu, the father of the deceased Syed Furqan Zafar had died a few years ago due to liver cancer and was buried in Kohi Goth, where the family manages a charity hospital. The Sultan Zafar will now be placed to rest next to his father.

Reporting the catastrophic test, Professor Tipu Sultan said that the Sultan Zafar met a fatal car accident last Wednesday morning while driving with friends to a private housing community in Karachi.

“They were rushed to the emergency room with multiple head injuries and was unconscious on arrival, was immediately rescued and shifted to the ICU after the initial surgery to remove blood clots from his brain,” he said.

“On the 1st Saturday, the Sultan was transferred to the operating room again for another cranotomy. We spent those days in constant fear and anxiety, unable to sleep or focus on anything other than his condition,” Prof Tipu added.

The Sultan Zafar initially showed signs of improvement and was transferred to a nursing chamber. But on Tuesday morning, his condition suddenly deteriorated. “Difficulties in breathing and shifted back to the ICU. He was redefined, but until 4pm, he had lost all his reflexes and his students were stable and dilateed,” Prof Tipu recalled.

The family was destroyed. “There are no words to describe what we went through, after prolonged discussions outside the ICU lasting more than five hours, Mahar Afroze took the most selfless and courageous decision of her life – to donate her son’s organs so that others can live,” said Prof Tipu.

Dr. Afroze personally arranged her son’s body to be transferred to an ambulance for Siut late Tuesday night, knowing the importance of donating corpse organ.

“It is a nephrologist who sees patients die daily due to lack of organ donors, he wanted Zafar’s death to save lives,” Prof Tipu said.

In Siut, both kidneys were transplanted into two patients waiting for years. Unfortunately, other bodies could not be collected because there were no direct recipients.

Professor Dr Shershah Syed, the Sultan’s grandfather of Zafar, gave an emotional tribute to his bride. “Dr. Mahar Afroze is a great doctor, a real man and a courageous mother, has set an example for every family and doctor in Pakistan, we are all very proud of her,” he said.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Siut confirmed the successful transplant, saying that surgery was performed in the early morning hours by a group of urologists and anesthes.

“This generous donation of Dr. Afroze in an hour of deep sadness and danger is widely welcomed by members of the medical profession and society in general,” the statement said.

The director of Siut Prof Adib Rizvi praised the family’s decision. “They gave the gift of life to two patients who did not have donors to their families and have been in dialysis for years. We call on society to imitate this noble act,” he said.

Pakistan is facing a critical shortage of instrument donors. Cultural misconceptions and religious concerns often prevent families from allowing organ harvesting by dead loved ones, although thousands of patients die each year from kidney, liver and heart failure.

“This act must inspire others,” Professor Tipu Sultan urged, adding: “Mahar Afroze has lost her only son and now only has her two daughters, but she has chosen to give hope to others.

As the Sultan Zafar is placed to rest next to his father in Kohi Goth, his mother’s power in front of an unbearable tragedy is a lighthouse of hope for thousands of patients waiting for organ transplants in the country.