WATCH: 35 years later – Miracle kidney transplant recipient and donor still in good health

Shannon Pretorius and Martin Lehman embarked on a miraculous medical journey 35 years ago, and The Citizen was there to record it.

Now, decades later, we caught up with them at their reunion.

Lehman was a serviceman in the army for just under two years when he contracted bilharzia. At the tender age of 19, Lehman’s health quickly deteriorated. His face and ankles were swollen and, for such a young man, feeling such fatigue was clearly abnormal.

“They thought it was a stomach ulcer at first. But after tests were done, they figured out it was my kidneys and that I needed a donor fast. I was very sick for two months. I was first admitted in Potchefstroom, but I was swelling up, then to the military hospital, and from there to Johannesburg.”

Luckily, out of his twelve siblings, his older sister Shannon was a suitable donor, and a series of medical tests ensued. Pretorius had 27 vials of blood taken, and had to consult with psychologists.

The surgery was a success, with Lehman’s procedure taking just three hours at the then Johannesburg General Hospital, and Pretorius’ four hours.

“At the time, I held the record for the shortest time spent in the hospital,” Lehman said.

“Within eight or nine days, I was back at home.”

He did learn to walk again, as the kidney at the front of his body threw his balance off. But learning to walk was his favourite part.

“Having two nurses on either side of me while we walk 600m down a passage was the best! After that, I would go back to my room in the blue block, and rest.”

The pace at which both siblings recovered amazed their doctors and loved ones. But a journey that should have brought the siblings closer together did just the opposite.

Pretorius revealed at the family’s 35th kidney transplant reunion on Saturday at a restaurant in Carletonville that she did not speak to her brother for four years.

“I said I wanted my kidney back, please! I was bitter. He would just drive by my house and I would hear he was in the area.

“But my late husband loved him very much. And, through him, we made peace again. And until this day, we haven’t had an argument.”

Pretorius said after the procedure, she read in the newspaper that people in the US were paid if they donated their kidneys. In her mind, she was owed something, she joked.

Since the procedure, Pretorius has not seen a doctor, aside from a few dental procedures.

Lehman still regularly visits physicians to get pills, but other than that, he too is in good health.

After the operation, Lehman got married and had a healthy baby boy.

All thirteen of the siblings are still alive, with the eldest sister recently turning 70.

“Including my parents, when they were still alive, at some stage our family totalled 101 members. It’s so wonderful to be in such a big family. It’s just love.”

The siblings may be scattered across the country now, but their strong bond is palpable.

“So much love must be good for the soul,” Pretorius and Lehman said.

nicas@citizen.co.za

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