From a father with love

Father aged 43 donates kidney to son aged 25 :

Mahinda P Liyanage, Galle Daily News corr

A 43-year-old father from Hikkaduwa, Galle donated one of his kidneys for his 25 - year - old son at the Galle Karapitiya Teaching Hospital.

The living donor genetically related renal transplant was successfully carried out at the Galle Karapitiya Teaching Hospital on Monday.

The surgery was the second kidney transplant at a hospital in the South.

K N Nimalarathne and his son K N Yoshan have recovered and are under care at the hospital.

The kidney transplant was carried out by consultant vascular and transplant surgeon Ranjuka Obeysiri assisted by consultants Kolitha Karunadasa, Harsha Gamage, Gayan Ekanayake and Theja Jayasekara of the Galle Karapitiya Teaching Hospital.

Consultant Nephrologists Sanjaya Heiyanathuduwa of Galle Karapitiya Teaching Hospital coordinated the surgery while anesthesiologists Nalin Nanayakkara and Keshari Gunasekara facilitated the surgery.

Obeysiri who performed the first ever renal surgery in the South, said it took over three and a half months since a similar surgery, to accomplish the second, due to the non-availability of facilities and resources at the hospital.

“We do not have separate operation theatres for renal transplantation surgeries at Karapitiya.

From left: K N Nimalarathne, his son K N Yoshan and Dr Ranjuka Obeysiri. Pictures by Mahinda P Liyanage, Galle Daily News correspondent

We have to use the same theatres used for other operations. We need at least two separate theatres for these operations. We have only five dialysis machines.

We need at least two more machines for which we have placed orders with the ministry. The Karapitiya Teaching Hospital needs more Intensive Care Units, ” he said.

Obeysiri said over 30 kidney patients with end stage renal disease were awaiting kidney transplant at Karapitiya Hospital.

Consultant nephrologist Sanjaya Heiyanthuduwa said they already formulated a viable plan to construct a five storey building complex complete with facilities and resources for a separate kidney transplant and renal diseases unit following discussions.

“The proposed Rs 200 million project proposal will be soon submitted to the ministry. We expect contributions from the public for this humanitarian project,” he said.