uMhlanga organ failure survivor becomes a mother

FOR uMhlanga resident and kidney transplant recipient, Julie Anthony, organ donation not only saved her life, but allowed her to fulfil her lifelong dream of becoming a mother. She welcomed her son into the world in January this year.

“My little miracle would never be here today if it wasn’t for my organ donor. I will never be able to express the magnitude of my gratitude for the amazing gift she has given me and my family,” she said.

“He is my first and only child. I always wanted to be a mum and when I was diagnosed with kidney failure I was told I would never be able to have children. After my kidney transplant my health was good and my kidney function was in a good range so after two years I discussed my desire to have children with my medical team who were anxious but supported my decision,” she said.

Also read: Organ donation affected by Covid-19 pandemic

Anthony was told she needed dialysis when she went into kidney failure in 2012

“I used to sit there and cry during the first few weeks of treatment, but I soon got the hang of it and realised I was lucky I had something like dialysis to keep me alive. I did the calculations and based on my blood type and the number of transplants happening at the time, I worked out that it could take over nine years before I received a kidney from the transplant list,” she said.

That’s when Anthony’s friend, Laurie Smith stepped in to donate her kidney. Smith said the motivation behind her donation was to pay tribute to her brother, Dayne Kemp who died at the age of 18 following a spinal injury in 1999. 

Also read: PinkDrive to resume cancer screenings

“It was such a cathartic experience to see how his organ donations saved 12 children with leukaemia and his corneas gave sight to two people. I think it’s imp for people to understand how easy it is to be a living donor. The support from the organ donor foundation and screening they do is in depth. I underwent 14 months of screening both physical and mental. The surgical team was world class and I had world class medical care after the procedure. Being living donor doesn’t cost anything financially. Life after donation is normal, I haven’t changed my lifestyle,” she said.

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting

Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).

At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.

You can also sign up for news alerts on Telegram. Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5532.  

Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.