Afe Babalola University Multi-System Hospital, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), has recorded its first kidney transplant after a procedure that lasted five hours, fifteen minutes, thus making the successful transplant the first of its kind in Ekiti/Ondo axis of the country.
The procedure was carried out on a 46-year-old player in the entertainment industry (name withheld) who was diagnosed to be hypertensive as far back as 2017 had not been passing urine in the last six months as a result of which he has had difficulty breathing. He also required regular dialysis to keep him alive.
A statement by the Director of Corporate Affairs of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Mr. Tunde Olofintila, said the patient who came entirely on his own to the Hospital on April 12, became critically ill in February, almost at the point of death.
Before coming to ABUAD Multi-system Hospital, the patient had been taken to a healthcare facility in Ekiti State where he was being treated until there was an industrial action as a result of which he could no longer be dialyzed.
Out of sympathy for his critical condition, one of the doctors at the facility gave him two options: either to proceed to another healthcare facility in Ekiti State or go to India for a kidney transplantation.
Convinced that there was no need to go as far as India, another doctor advised the patient to try ABUAD.
When the patient got to ABUAD Multi-System Hospital in April, he was impressed with the way he was attended to after which he proceeded to make enquiries about kidney transplantation in ABUAD Hospital which commenced operation about three-and-half years ago.
Convinced that his case would be resolved in ABUAD Multi-System Hospital, he started looking for kidney donors, but was not immediately lucky to get one.
According to Dr. Stephen Olawale Oguntola, the Coordinator of the Transplant Programme and Lead Nephrologist with the ABUAD Multi-System Hospital, “the transplant was done simultaneously on Wednesday, October 13, using a dedicated twin-transplant theatre right here in this Hospital, thus making it the first successful kidney transplant in Ekiti/Ondo axis of the country”.
Narrating his experience, the lucky patient who had been to the Indian Embassy thrice but could not get a visa because of COVID-19 was full of gratitude for the founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, and the medical team that attended to him.
Commenting on the successful kidney transplant, Babalola said: “This is a milestone for ABUAD but I am not surprised because we have quality equipment that are not available in most parts of Africa. No wonder then that major health stakeholders have acknowledged our Hospital as the most well-equipped in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
