Testimonials

I was sick and did the exams the doctor requested. He told me that I have renal failure and had to start hemodialysis. I did not know what this treatment was exactly. I thought, it was a one day treatment following which I would get back to my normal life.

Suddenly all my life changed: no sports, no work… I had no chance of cure without a kidney transplant. I was lucky to be transplanted from my mother and I know now that nothing is more precious than health. I have put all my capacities to serve this cause and convince people to say YES to organ donation.

I was born with a kidney problem. I have always been on some sort of treatment. At the age of 10 months, I had one kidney removed; the other one was working with difficulty. I don’t remember one day without pain. I was doing exams all the time and taking medications every day. But the pain did not stop and my kidney did not work better.

At the age of 10 years, I had to start hemodialysis; I had no chance of cure without a kidney transplant. After 8 months of hemodialysis, I was transplanted from a deceased donor who no longer needed his/her kidney.

As far as I am concerned I was really born the day I received my transplant. Since then, I am enjoying going to school like all other kids, I can go to bed at night without feeling pain. I am grateful to my donor and pray every day for him/her. This year at school I prepared a talk on organ donation that had a positive impact on the students as well as on the teachers.

I was at high school when the symptoms of liver failure started to appear. The doctors told me that I should have a liver transplant. I was living in Libya with my family. When I put my name on the waiting list, my father decided that all the family should go and live in Lebanon. At the age of 22, I had a liver transplant. I will graduate this year. All my friends from the university know my story and they encourage organ donation. To my donor I say “may your soul rest in peace”.

“I wanted to hold my daughter in my arms and lift her up”

I was 35 and had a one year old daughter. A virus infected my heart muscle that became very weak. I couldn’t go to work and take care of my family. I couldn’t hold my daughter in my arms and play with her like all fathers do. The only hope for me was to get a heart transplant. One day, NOD-Lb called me and told me they have a heart for me and that I had to rush to the hospital. Thanks to the donor who saved my life, I am still with my family and I have been even granted a new born baby boy. I am enjoying playing with my kids. Every morning I thank my donor and light a candle for his/her soul to rest in peace. I am taking good care of my heart and doing my best to transmit his/her message for organ donation.

I was born with liver failure. The doctors told my parents that my only cure would be a liver transplant. At the age of 3, I was lucky to receive a liver transplant.

Since then, I am living a normal life. I go to school, I do sports, and I participate in all the activities I like… I am 16 now and I pray for my donor every day. I will do all I can to sensitize our society on organ donation.

Heart recipient

"I have been suffering from heart failure since 1984. I underwent several procedures in Lebanon and Jordan, and finally got a heart transplant in 2006.

Until then my life had been very sad. I always worried about my family… One day (in 2003) I read in a magazine of the Lebanese army (I am a retired Lebanese soldier) an article about heart transplantation in Lebanon. I took an appointment from the doctor and I started my preparation for a heart transplantation and registered my file on the national waiting list at the "National Organization for Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation (NOD-Lb).

For the next three years, I experienced the worst health conditions: A week at home, another in the hospital. In 2006, I was called by NOD-Lb and my doctor to inform me that there was a compatible heart for me. I underwent a heart transplant from a deceased young donor. I pray God daily to have mercy on his/her soul and his/her family and thank them for their love and generosity. Without their decision and their gift I would not have had a heart transplant. I do not know my donor personally, but I feel in touch with him/her through my prayers.

My suffering and my experience with this transplantation let me appreciate better the value of health and life. I hope that no one will ever hesitate to say YES to organ donation because nothing is more beautiful than thinking everyday that the organs of his/her loved ones are still alive and beating somewhere in the world”.

Mother of A Deceased Donor

"Today I regret because I hesitated for 5 minutes before I said YES to donate the organs of my daughter S. My daughter was 15 year old. She died from meningitis that had evolved quickly to brain death. We have suffered a lot from the loss of my unique daughter.

Today I am very happy I took the right decision and helped children of her age and saved their parents this bitter experience."

Heart recipient

“At the age of 19, before having my cardiac problem, the subject of organ donation did not mean anything to me. I thought I was not concerned. This only happens to others”. In fact it concerns each and every one of us and at any time. Now I realize how selfish we can be. My physician told me: “If you do not manage to have a cardiac transplant in the coming 6 months you will die”. I went through a horrible period. Now, I start my day by praying for my donor and his family for the very precious gift they have given me without even knowing me. Without such donors and such families many patients would die desperately waiting on the list. To thank my treating physician and my donor I take good care of myself and his/her precious gift: My heart.

“I was a very active sports man. I never ever thought about this subject. Suddenly, I found myself in the “club” when the doctor told me “you have chronic renal failure and your treatment is either dialysis or kidney transplantation”. I accepted my fate but was shocked to learn that my disease was hereditary and that my children could get it one day. I had the chance to be transplanted and I know now that nothing is more precious than health. I have put all my capacities to serve this cause and try to convince people to say YES to organ donation. No reward or gratification is more important than knowing that parts of a loved one are still alive somewhere in the world.

Living Donor

Sylvia, 48 years old, mother of Janine: "I could not see my daughter Janine (now 25) suffering from kidney disease since her childhood. She had to go to the hospital three days a week for hemodialysis.*

I felt as if my kidney did not want to stay within me. Its presence in my body bothered me. When the doctors agreed to retrieve my kidney to save the life of my daughter, I felt I was relieved from an abscess that was hurting a lot. I am very happy to see my daughter now leading a normal life".

* Hemodialysis is a process of purifying blood through a machine.