PETALING JAYA – Baharudin Ayob was on the verge of giving up all hope after attempts to get a new life-saving liver failed and the prospects of him surviving for long got slimmer.
It was then that, on October 9, doctors at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) where he was being treated identified an organ donor who was about to die in the same hospital.
Presented with this opportunity to get the much needed liver transplant, Baharudin, 54, accepted it without hesitation.
The procedure was conducted successfully the very next day.
The former oil palm harvester from Muar is now recuperating after being transferred to a normal ward last Sunday.
Besides being the first deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) performed at UMMC, the surgery means the hospital is also the second DDLT centre in the country after Hospital Selayang.
Assoc Prof Dr Yoong Boon Koon, head of UMMC’s surgery division and a liver transplant surgeon, described the event as a miracle.
“On October 9, we identified an organ donor in UMMC’s intensive care unit,” he told The Vibes.
“The National Transplant Resource Centre (NTRC) was alerted and the transplant protocol was activated,” said the hepato-pancreatico-biliary consultant.
“The UMMC liver transplantation team was subsequently invited by NTRC to procure the liver. We organised the liver transplant team to perform the transplantation the next day.
“Thankfully, the whole team, including the surgeons, anaesthetist, hepatologist, intensivist, nurses and paramedics, was available, despite it being a Sunday, and the transplantation was able to proceed smoothly.”
Life-saving donation drive
For Baharudin, his health ordeal began when he suddenly lost weight and his family noticed his face turning yellowish in September last year.
Doctors had told him he had about six months left to live if no surgery is performed. His 7-year-old son was too young to donate his liver.
The family finally sought help from One Hope Charity to raise funds for the surgery.
The surgery fee was estimated to cost about RM120,000. The charity group launched a fundraising campaign in February and collected the amount in two days.
“We raised the funds in two days and we informed the hospital to go ahead with the surgery,” said One Hope Charity chairman Datuk Chua Sui Hau.
Doctors had earlier this year thought of having Baharudin undergo a “living donor” liver transplant, with his own wife, Hazillah Hassan, being the organ donor.
However, although her liver was found to be a match for his body in January, the fact that she had fatty liver came with increased risks.
The surgery was postponed and Hazillah was advised to reduce her bodyweight.
“Unfortunately, despite his wife reducing her weight to an acceptable BMI (body mass index) level, the condition of her fatty liver did not improve, according to the biopsy results, and she was deemed unsuitable to be a donor,” Yoong said.
Had this transplant taken place successfully, it could have been the country’s first liver transplant involving a living donor and biologically unrelated recipient.
Hazillah, 46, a bank officer, said she was willing to donate her liver for her husband.
But when this was no longer an option, UMMC had referred Baharudin to Hospital Selayang for possible DDLT there.
In expressing her gratitude, Hazillah thanked UMMC’s management, Dr Yoong and One Hope Charity’s Chua for changing the family’s fortunes when all hope appeared to have been dashed.
“My husband was diagnosed with cirrhosis a year ago,” she told The Vibes.
“He started experiencing symptoms such as vomiting blood, nausea, tiredness and jaundice. He was forced to quit his job.
“My husband is now recovering fast, and he has been transferred from the intensive care unit to a normal ward. I see him responding to the medication and hope he will be discharged soon to be with the family.
“With the help of the nurses, I managed to make video calls while he was in the ICU. He was unable to talk, but could listen to me while in bed.” – The Vibes, October 23, 2021
