They were friends at Kloof High School. Many years later they have a lot more in common. Liz Clarke spoke to two guys who have first hand experience of the joy of giving.
This Christmas will be like no other for Waterfall man Rod Harris – he will celebrate it with a brand new kidney donated to him by his old Kloof High School pal Raymond Haycock.
“I can’t believe I’ll be well enough to enjoy the festive season with my family,” says Roderick, who will tell you there are no words to describe the sacrifice made by his former school chum.
“I could have waited for years to have this chance of a new life. It’s the best Christmas gift anyone could have.”
Eighteen months ago the outlook for a healthy life looked bleak. While Rod was in hospital undergoing emergency treatment for his failing kidneys, he decided to marry his long-time girlfriend Bridgitte.
“I had to accept that my prognosis wasn’t good, so we decided to have the marriage ceremony next to my hospital bed with close friends and family, and with all the dialysis equipment close at hand.”
Although he was later discharged from hospital, his condition remained serious. Without a kidney donation – and a good match at that – his chances of survival were not good.
But who says miracles don’t happen?
One day in October last year, Rod went into a Waterfall store to buy a DVD for his family to watch at home. At exactly the same time, his friend Raymond decided to go to the same DVD outlet.
“We hadn’t seen each other for almost ten years,” recalls Raymond. “But I recognised Roderick immediately and we had so much catching up to do. I knew he hadn’t been well, but didn’t know the seriousness of his condition.”
“He asked me if there were anything he could do for me,” says Rod taking up the story. “I said – almost jokingly – that a new kidney would be a dream come true. I told him I probably wouldn’t last that long without a transplant but that no suitable match had been found, not even brother.”
Raymond’s next words were to take Rod’s breath away: “I’ll give you one of my mine.”
“I couldn’t believe he was being serious. I mean, you don’t normally go shopping and someone offers you one of their organs, just like that, almost without hesitation,” says Rod. “I was at a loss for words.”
The incredible thing is that Rod had been on his way out of the shop. A few seconds later and he would have missed Raymond.
True to his word, Raymond sought advice from the renal transplant unit at St Augustine’s Hospital and went for the obligatory tests to see if he would be a suitable donor. He matched three of the benchmarks, which, in medical parlance, meant he was an excellent candidate for having one of his kidneys harvested.
The ultimate gift
“I have to admit my family was a bit shocked at my decision,” Raymond recalls. “They felt I was putting my own health at risk. But when I explained that you can live a perfectly normal life with one kidney, they supported me.”
The two friends had left Kloof High School in 1992 as energetic teenagers ready to take on the world. Raymond travelled overseas and found a lucrative niche in a signwriting business. Rod helped his own dream of sailing solo around the world by working in a boat-building business, later joining an IT company in KZN.
Little could the pair have imagined that nearly 18 years later their chance meeting would result in the two of them recovering from major transplant surgery, during which Rod would receive a life-saving healthy kidney harvested from his old school friend.
Three months ago, the four-hour operation was done simultaneously at St Augustine’s Hospital, with two surgical teams involved in the organ donor process.
“I still can’t believe my good fortune,” smiles family man Rod, whose life-threatening kidney condition developed two years ago. As a result he spent several months in and out of hospital undergoing treatment.
Post-op
His wife Bridgitte says that her task in the post-operative phase is to ensure Rod leads a healthy lifestyle. “I have turned a large part of our garden into a vegetable area. We grow almost everything we eat.” In fact, she’s become so garden-wise she has now started a small family business setting up veggie gardens.
As for husband Rod, he says that while he accepts he still has a long way to go, he’s beginning to feel the benefits of having a healthy working kidney.
“I have a lot more energy, that’s number one. Even now I pinch myself thinking that a few months ago I was facing a death sentence. We all knew that without a good organ match, my chances of survival were slim.”
He admits the harvesting operating was “quite painful”, but he has almost recovered with no ill effects. “And being forced to lose 14kg before the operation – that was a bonus.”
Looking back to the start of his illness, Rod says he knew something was wrong when he started experienced difficulty in reading. “There were spots in my vision and words on a page were disappearing. The doctor diagnosed severe hypertension which had caused small blood vessels at the back of the eye to burst,” he says.
Although doctors managed to control the hypertension and high blood pressure, he realised there were other symptoms His ankles were often swollen and puffy, and by the end of 2008 he was no longer passing urine.
He was taken to hospital and diagnosed with acute nephritis and vasculitis – a sign that his kidneys were failing. Dialysis was his only chance of survival.
Although Rod will not be able to go back to full time work for several months, he says that the memories of those nightmare times are beginning to fade.
“Thanks to Raymond, I have a new life to look forward to.”
Organ Donor Foundation
According to Phillipa Douglas, executive director of the Organ Donor Foundation, 3,500 people are awaiting organ transplants.
“The need for organs like hearts, livers, lungs, kidneys, pancreases and corneas is crucial,” she said. “By donating your organs you could save the lives of up to eight people.”
In South Africa in 2009, there were 724 organ and cornea transplants. Of these, 376 were solid organ transplants:
- Hearts: 25 adults and one adolescent
- Lungs: 8 adults
- Livers: 26 adults, 1 adolescent and 10 paediatrics
- Simultaneous kidney/pancreas: 11 adults.
- Simultaneous kidney/liver: 2 adolescents and 2 paediatrics
- Kidneys: 263 adults, 11 adolescents and 16 paediatrics, with 40% of the donors being related to the recipients
- Corneas: 299 adults, 33 adolescents and 16 children had their sight restored through cornea transplants
Organ Donor Foundation
Toll free telephone: 0800 22 66 11