A 9-year-old boy clung to life with his father's kidney

Halil Demirci, a 41-year-old financial advisor in Bursa, was diagnosed with kidney disease six years ago due to high blood pressure. He went to the hospital in January thinking he had the flu and learned he was suffering from kidney failure.

Demirci, who was transferred from a private hospital in the city to Bursa High Specialization Training and Research Hospital, received dialysis treatment for about 10 months.

Following the transplant recommendation, with the encouragement and information of organ transplant authorities, the mother-in-law volunteered to donate her kidney to her son-in-law.

When the tissues were found to be compatible in the examinations, a kidney transplant was performed from the mother-in-law to her son-in-law by the team led by the hospital's organ transplant surgeon responsible, Prof. Dr. Murat Demirbaş.

Halil Demirci, who was discharged after eight days of treatment, is happy to regain his health.

"I never saw him as a groom"

RG, the mother-in-law who donated her kidney, told an AA reporter that the family was very upset when her son-in-law was diagnosed with kidney failure, but they were happy when they received the news that their tissues were compatible.

The mother-in-law, who stated that she had decided to donate her organs years ago, said, "Of course, I would have donated them if someone needed them while I was alive. There was nothing I could do because we are a family. God gave me two, so I said, why not? Because instead of an organ being dust, I wanted a life for my children, my mother, my father. You're not saving one person; you're saving an entire family. It's such a difficult thing. It's hard to understand without experiencing it."

The mother-in-law emphasized that giving someone life is an indescribable feeling and called on everyone to donate organs.

The mother-in-law, who stated that she lost her sister and father due to organ failure and that she suffered greatly because of this, said:

"I even warned my children. They said, 'Mom, don't be ridiculous.' I said, 'He won't be of any use after he dies, he'll just turn to dust anyway. Let him be of use to at least one person. I donated him for afterlife, but my son-in-law got his living. When they first got married, I said, 'You're my son now.' I never saw him as a son-in-law. That's what family is."

"I am grateful to him"

Halil Demirci also explained that no tissue match was achieved with anyone because there was a chronic blood pressure disease in his family.

Demirci stated that the process started with the volunteering of his mother-in-law and that the transplant was accomplished with the successful operation of the team led by Prof. Dr. Murat Demirbaş.

Demirci stated that he now feels very well and thanked the doctors and nurses who got him back on his feet in eight days.

Demirci, who noted that he had always had a very good relationship with his mother-in-law, continued:

"I always call my mother-in-law 'sister-in-law' anyway. I told her, 'Don't regret it later.' She said, 'There's nothing to regret; we're going to bring a life back to life.' Thankfully, she agreed without even blinking. I'm grateful to her. Organ donation, unfortunately, isn't very common in Türkiye. We'll die and be buried. All our organs will be buried there. I invite everyone to donate organs."

"My mother brought my wife back to life"

Halil Demirci's wife, Yasemin Demirci, stated that she was deeply moved by her mother's decision, saying, "I thank my mother so much. Thank goodness I have her. My mother has kept my husband alive. Not just him, but me, my children, his family, his parents. Everyone is very surprised because the mother-in-law gave it to him, because unfortunately, such examples are rare."

Prof. Dr. Murat Demirbaş also explained that they perform living donor kidney transplants routinely, but that a mother-in-law donating a kidney to a son-in-law is not a very common situation.

Demirbaş pointed out that the shorter the dialysis period, the more successful the organ transplant outcome, and noted:

"In a truly great act of selflessness and admiration, he donated his kidney to his son-in-law. There are truly many kidney patients waiting for organ transplants. We need to help these people. Living donor transplants are much more common in Türkiye because cadaver transplants and cadaver donations are very, very few. We are actually a very generous nation, but we probably need to be a little more aware of this issue. As long as the number of cadaver donations increases, these patients will live longer and have better quality of life."