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Emirati man dies of stroke, donates organs to save four lives

Abu Dhabi - His heart, liver and two kidneys were donated to patients in Saudi Arabia.

Organs donated by an Emirati man who died in an accident has helped save lives of four people in Saudi Arabia, according to a medical official from the Kingdom.

The 41-year-old Emirati man died at Tawam Hospital in Al Ain last week from stroke due to a traffic accident. But before his death, the man said he wanted to donate his organs.

And immediately after he died, the medical team took his heart, liver, and two kidneys in three surgeries that lasted for six hours.

In a phone interview with Khaleej Times on Wednesday, Muhreb Mahdi Al Onazi, head of nursing services at the Saudi Arabian Centre for Organ Transplantation, who was also part of the medical team from Saudi Arabia who carried out the surgeries to extract the organs from the Emirati and later shipped them to the patients, said officials from the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) had contacted them after knowing that there were people in urgent need for the organs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

"After assessing the situation, a team of 10 medical experts was immediately flown to Al Ain in a special medical plane and carried out the operation to remove the organs from the donor. It took about six hours," said Al Onazi.

"The team then immediately flew back to Saudi Arabia with the organs, including a heart, kidneys and a liver, which were taken to the four recipients who were already waiting in different hospitals."

Al Onazi said the patients, who were both men and women, suffered from heart failure, kidney failure and liver failure. The Saudi Arabian nationals were being treated for a long time while authorities looked for potential donors.

"All transplant operations went on smoothly and the four patients are now in good health condition," said Al Onazi, adding that this was a timely intervention as the patients urgently needed the organs to save their lives.

He added: "What the Emirati donor did was really extraordinary. He gave a new life to four patients. All the patients are very happy and grateful to the departed Emirati for saving their lives."

The medical official thanked SEHA for reaching out to them in a timely manner to give the organs that had been donated by the Emirati to save the lives of the Saudi nationals.

Al Ozani explained that Gulf nations have signed an agreement where they usually exchange organs wherever there is an urgent need to save people's lives.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com