Our star of the week is 20-year-old Muhinda Maswahu, who six months ago became the first Namibian to donate a kidney.
He donated his to his father, Bernard, who suffered from kidney failure and faced debilitating illness. Muhinda saw his father’s health deteriorating day by day and had offered several times to donate a kidney to his dad, but his father initially refused. Eventually, as time was running out, his father accepted his offer.
Both father and son have since fully recovered from the operation – a first of its kind – which was conducted at Ongwediva Medipark. Muhinda says he experienced no health problems after the surgery, besides the pain of the wound sustained during the operation. He was even able to exercise a week after the operation and his father is now a happy man, who looks forward to farming after his retirement next year.
Both father and son have advised families that have kidney failure sufferers not to be selfish, as one can lead a normal life with one kidney. “We watch our loved ones suffering when we know how we can help them. And once they die we want to shed tears, but we had an opportunity to help them, Muhinda says.
“Inside him there’s an angel. I love my son very much. He is my hero,” remarked Maswahu senior.