‘Stop objecting to organ donations’

KUALA LUMPUR: Primary school teacher Mohd Nizam Abdol Manap had to wait 10 years for a kidney transplant but when the day finally came, his hopes were dashed.

The 31-year-old was told that the family members of the deceased donor had objected to the release of the organ.

A dejected Mohd Nizam said: “I wish that family members would not stop organs of the deceased from being donated as this could give kidney failure patients a chance at a better life.”

Mohd Nizam said that he was studying in Universiti Teknology Mara in Shah Alam when he had a fever for two weeks and was then admitted into the intensive care unit for eight days.

“I went into a coma for four days,” he said at the Taman Keramat Integrated Religious Primary School yesterday.

When he woke up, he was told that his kidneys had failed, apparently due to leptospirosis infection and hypertension, and he had to go for dialysis.

Ahmad Syahrani Shaharir, 37, suffered failure of both lungs in 2011 as a result of primary pulmonary hypertension (iPAH).

“Earlier this year, I was excited when I was told to get ready for a kidney transplant as they had found a suitable donor,” he said.

“However, I received news that the family had objected to the donation."

“If Malaysians have any humanity at all, they would be more far-sighted about this.”

The former bank clerk in Seremban said that prior to 2009, he was active in badminton, jogging and swimming but a slipped disc had left him bedridden for three months.

He was often tired since then and was diagnosed with iPAH two years ago.

“Doctors say that a patient like me could ‘go’ at any time,” he said, adding that it was hard for him to take care of his 15-month-old baby without feeling tired.

The theme for this year’s National Organ Donation Awareness Week 2013 is One Pledge A Million Hopes, Organ Donation Saves Lives, reflecting the hopes of the 17,000 patients with end-stage organ failure for transplants to help save their lives.

To be launched on Oct 5 at Laman 1 Malaysia Putra Jaya (near Millenium Monument), it is hoped that more than 5,000 participants will take part in a walkathon that carries the most creative organ donation message, among other activities.