By giving your organs to someone else, you can save someone’s valuable life. But nowadays, there are long waiting lists for organ transplantation surgeries. Because there are a lot more people who need organs than there are people who are willing to donate them. So talking about how amazing organ donations are and how they can change someone’s life is important.
World Health Organization (WHO) said that, with the development of standard medical procedures, doctors have been able to successfully transplant human cells, tissues, and organs all over the world.
Gareth Weeks | Twitter
if the patient has no longer access to other therapies or in their choices, an organ transplant is necessary and useful for allowing them to save lives and restore vital functions. According to the Global Observatory on Donation and Transplantation, In the year 2020, there were 129,681 organ transplant procedures recorded. The most transplanted organ is the kidneys. There were 80,926 kidney transplants, followed by liver transplants, 32,586, and heart transplants, 8,101.
But unfortunately, the 2020, record shows there was a decrease of 17.6% in the number of people who registered as organ donors compared to the previous year. More effort should be needed to show everyone how important and life-saving organ transplants can be. As well as a need to encourage more people to register as organ donors.
Gareth Weeks | Twitter
So, this guy named Gareth Weeks from Scotland recently posted some pictures on Twitter. He had a definite success plan for his goal. In the pictures, he is with his six-year-old daughter Zara. This shows that they are doing the same pose in both pictures. The pictures showed the difference in Zara’s appearance after the liver transplant.
He has once said that organ donation can save the lives of many more people. It is amazing how organs can be donated while someone is alive or dead. Organ donation can give people a second chance at life.
In the first picture, Week’s stomach is bigger and his skin is yellow. It is a side effect of primary sclerosing cholangitis. This chronic liver condition is irreversible.
Gareth Weeks | Twitter
The second picture is very different. His belly is not big in that picture now. His skin looks healthy. A large scar can also be seen on his stomach from the surgery he underwent. His first picture was taken on May 11, 2022, before his illness was diagnosed. The second picture was taken six weeks after his liver transplant.
He shows people how important organ donors are because their lives are a gift. He was very happy and his skin looked normal again.
When I met him, he was always tired even though he had slept enough. He was worried because he was the father of his child at that time. Jaundice caused him to experience stomach cramps, cramps and back pain..
Gareth Weeks | Twitter
When his liver started having problems, they discovered it was due to a condition called primary sclerosing cholangitis. He didn’t even know what it was. This condition occurs when the gallbladder is blocked. Bile is produced in the liver. They are carried by the gallbladder. Accumulation of bile in the liver causes serious damage to the liver. If people develop this condition and do not seek treatment, they only have about ten to twelve years left to live. After learning that Weeks had this serious disease, he quickly joined the waiting list for an organ transplant.
He has said that during the week-long speech, he was in a weak state due to this disease and it is a very stressful situation physically.
Weeks began suffering heavily from his illness in 2021, doctors put him on the waiting list for a new liver transplant in September. He had to wait for seven whole months, for the call that would save his life and make him healthy again.
Gareth Weeks | Twitter
On May 16, 2022, the doctor informed that he has a suitable liver donor. He later said that after the doctor allowed him to perform the surgery, he forgot what happened next in his memory, but he woke up the next day in the intensive care unit at around 8:30 a.m. to find that a tube had been inserted into his neck.
Finally after two weeks in the hospital he was able to go home, his transplanted liver is now working very well. He is very grateful to the person who donated his liver. They gave him a second chance at life and he is grateful. So it can be said that due to the kindness of the donor and their family, he was lucky enough to live again and see the future.
Now he planning to go on vacation to South Africa with his family. He needs to ride the bicycle as he did before his illness. As well as he needs to start playing golf again.
Gareth is more determined than ever to make the most of his new chance at life. He hopes that his story will inspire more people to become organ donors and be heroes for others.