Heart transplant patients and Netcare Milpark Hospital staff celebrated the lives of Hendrika van Wyk and Wessel Janse van Rensburg who have survived three and two decades respectively following heart transplantation in Parktown.
A dark cloud hung over Hendrika van Wyk’s life in 1984 when she was only 20. She was born with a heart condition that left her gasping for breath after she walked just a few steps and was not even able to dress herself without the help of her sisters.
Hendrika says she felt life draining from her and had to face up to the fact that she may not survive for very much longer.
Thanks to a heart transplant she received that year at Groote Schuur Hospital, her life was given back to her.
Hendrika, whose condition had weakened her heart to such an extent that it only had six percent function at the time of the transplant, says she often gets emotional when she thinks of the donor and his family.
“I often pray for and give thanks to the donor’s family who, at a time of agonising heartbreak, acted with such compassion.”
A teary Hendrika added “I am very thankful that God gave people the intelligence to help people that are sick like me.”
Hendrik van Wyk, Hendrika’s husband was in attendance.
“If it was not one of those people who donated their organs, I would not have my beautiful wife with me,” he said.
The moving occasion also celebrated the heart transplant of Wessel Janse van Rensburg.
In 1995, he spent a month in Netcare Milpark Hospital, awaiting a donor heart. In a most unusual case of a double transplantation, Janse van Rensburg received a viable heart from a patient that had died in Pretoria after his body could not withstand the operation.
“They [Hendrika and Wessel] have both reached incredible milestones and show us the power of organ transplantation, which saves and transforms lives,” said Dr Graham Cassel, a cardiologist at Netcare Milpark Hospital.
“We encourage people to step forward and register as organ donors to give South Africans in desperate need the opportunity of a new life. We salute the selfless donors and their families who make transplantation possible,” he said.
According to the Organ Donor Foundation, some 4 300 adults and children are currently awaiting transplantation, while fewer than 600 transplants are performed annually.
To register as an organ donor or make any form of donation, visit the Organ Donor Foundation on https://www.odf.org.za/
