Love moves kidney donor

Just for love Melissa George decided to give one of her kidneys to her ailing father last week Sunday and if she had to make the decision again she would not hesitate.

Melissa George
Melissa George

Speaking to Stabroek News last evening from the High Dependency Unit (HDU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), the 25-year-old immigration officer said that her father, Winston George, is the best father in the world and “love does not have to motivate anyone.”

She was moved from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where she was with her father since Sunday after the transplant, to the HDU and she was happy with reports tht she would more than likely go home today. The young woman said she is feeling “very good except for a little pain in my side.”

She described her father as being like a friend with whom she can discuss anything. “We would sit down and talk, have family time.

Winston George
Winston George

He is the best father anyone could have,” the young woman said from her hospital bed. She said that she was the one who took the decision to give her father a kidney even though he was somewhat hesitant. When the first transplant was done here she showed him the newspaper report and told him it could have been him. She  and a sister then took it upon themselves to get the test done and her kidneys were  a match and she did not hesitate to sign up to make the  donation to her father. She said on the day of the transplant she was not afraid nor did she ponder about any post-transplant  pain as the only thing on her mind was giving her father a longer lease on life.

“I am only now praying that everything goes well and he is back home soon and well,” the young woman said.

And her mother, Loraine George, expressed gratitude to the overseas team for the successful operation and also thanked the Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy for facilitating the operation.

She said her husband is now sitting up and eating by himself and brushing his teeth but he cannot leave his bed at the moment. “He is eating anything. He said the doctor told him to eat up and he asked me for bake and sausage,” the woman said last evening.

George, an ex-army major, was diagnosed with renal failure since in 2000 and on Sunday he became the second person in local medical history to receive a kidney transplant. The first transplant was done seven months ago and Sunday’s operation on the 47-year-old man was done in record time since the foreign doctors were more familiar with the local operating theatre.

George, who served the army for 17 years before he was sent off as medically unfit, was placed on peritoneal dialysis since 2000 but was told that after a period of ten years he would have to obtain a kidney transplant.

However, last year the man became very sick suffering from stomach pains and vomiting constantly. He had to be placed on the haemofiltration dialysis, but yet he was in and out of the Georgetown Hospital where he had joined the kidney clinic. It was while at the clinic he met with the foreign team and was later identified as a likely candidate.

The operation, which was led by US transplant surgeon Dr Rahul Jindal, commenced at around 8 am on Sunday and was completed around 1.30 pm.

The overseas medical team that performed the operation included the Indian-born Dr Jindal of Brookdale University Hospital; Dr Edward Falta, Transplant Surgeon of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), Washington; Dr Melanie Guerero, Pulmonary Care Physician; Laura Owens, Transplant Coordinator, and Dr Arthur L. Womble who is attached to the Athens-Limestone Hospital, Athens, Alabama. Just for love Melissa George decided to give one of her kidneys to her ailing father last week Sunday and if she had to make the decision again she would not hesitate.

Speaking to Stabroek News last evening from the High Dependency Unit (HDU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), the 25-year-old immigration officer said that her father, Winston George, is the best father in the world and “love does not have to motivate anyone.”

She was moved from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where she was with her father since Sunday after the transplant, to the HDU and she was happy with reports tht she would more than likely go home today. The young woman said she is feeling “very good except for a little pain in my side.”

She described her father as being like a friend with whom she can discuss anything. “We would sit down and talk, have family time.

He is the best father anyone could have,” the young woman said from her hospital bed. She said that she was the one who took the decision to give her father a kidney even though he was somewhat hesitant. When the first transplant was done here she showed him the newspaper report and told him it could have been him. She  and a sister then took it upon themselves to get the test done and her kidneys were  a match and she did not hesitate to sign up to make the  donation to her father. She said on the day of the transplant she was not afraid nor did she ponder about any post-transplant  pain as the only thing on her mind was giving her father a longer lease on life.

“I am only now praying that everything goes well and he is back home soon and well,” the young woman said.

And her mother, Loraine George, expressed gratitude to the overseas team for the successful operation and also thanked the Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy for facilitating the operation.

She said her husband is now sitting up and eating by himself and brushing his teeth but he cannot leave his bed at the moment. “He is eating anything. He said the doctor told him to eat up and he asked me for bake and sausage,” the woman said last evening.

George, an ex-army major, was diagnosed with renal failure since in 2000 and on Sunday he became the second person in local medical history to receive a kidney transplant. The first transplant was done seven months ago and Sunday’s operation on the 47-year-old man was done in record time since the foreign doctors were more familiar with the local operating theatre.

George, who served the army for 17 years before he was sent off as medically unfit, was placed on peritoneal dialysis since 2000 but was told that after a period of ten years he would have to obtain a kidney transplant.

However, last year the man became very sick suffering from stomach pains and vomiting constantly. He had to be placed on the haemofiltration dialysis, but yet he was in and out of the Georgetown Hospital where he had joined the kidney clinic. It was while at the clinic he met with the foreign team and was later identified as a likely candidate.

The operation, which was led by US transplant surgeon Dr Rahul Jindal, commenced at around 8 am on Sunday and was completed around 1.30 pm.

The overseas medical team that performed the operation included the Indian-born Dr Jindal of Brookdale University Hospital; Dr Edward Falta, Transplant Surgeon of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), Washington; Dr Melanie Guerero, Pulmonary Care Physician; Laura Owens, Transplant Coordinator, and Dr Arthur L. Womble who is attached to the Athens-Limestone Hospital, Athens, Alabama. (Oluatoyin Alleyne)