A middle-aged British woman living in Bahrain has received a special New Year’s present from her beloved husband – a kidney.
The transplant gift from oil executive Paul Savage has given her a new lease of life and she couldn’t be happier.
“He’s my hero,” Melanie Savage told the GDN from her hospital bed as she recovers from the operation carried out last Monday at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).
Skilled surgeons took nearly six hours to successfully carry out the procedure on the 55-year-old Lancashire-born expatriate and her 53-year-old husband.
“I was diagnosed with a fourth-stage kidney disease six years ago and a transplant was an option,” Ms Savage explained. “Right away, Paul said he was willing to give me his kidney, and I knew it could happen at some point.
“There were no transplants happening in Bahrain at the time, so we planned to go to the UK to get it done. But we then contacted a nephrologist in Bahrain and plans started moving forward.”
Ms Savage was also placed under the care of Dr Isa Kawaliit at the Royal Bahrain Hospital and went under the knife of SMC consultant nephrologist Dr Ali Al Aradi and his team.
The cheerful homemaker has been married to ‘her hero’ for 34 years and describes him as a ‘wonderful husband, great and loving father, and a good worker’.
“He is a good man – he is simply my hero,” she said. “He often tells me that ‘your life is also my life, and it’s all about us being together’. And, here we are, continuing together.”
She thanked the SMC’s nephrology unit staff for their ‘loving and gentle’ care. According to Dr Al Aradi, the lengthy transplant procedure was difficult due to pandemic restrictions and the patient’s underlying health conditions.
“Both did well during and after the transplant operation. Fortunately, Paul was a good match for Melanie,” he told the GDN. “The challenge was ensuring that the procedure was carried out with full precautions in the midst of the pandemic – Melanie was immunocompromised.
“We had to make sure of the time line and take into account the necessary preparations required in the current hospital situation what with the rise in Covid-19 cases, which were of priority. We succeeded, which is a testament to the efficiency of our health system,” added the veteran Bahraini medic.
The GDN has previously reported on similar successful kidney transplants involving family members as donors. In 2019, three such cases were reported. A 30-year-old Bahraini woman donated a kidney to her 20-year-old younger sister. A 50-year-old father donated a kidney to save his 22-year-old son in the second case. In addition, a mother gave one of her kidneys to her son in order to give him a second chance at life.
“We are capable of performing such procedures, and this case, Melanie reflects the trust that expatriate patients place in our system,” said Dr Al Aradi. “We encourage people to recognise the importance of kidney donation because it can provide new opportunities for patients and assist them in returning to a normal life.
“Donors can live their lives naturally with a single kidney, so we hope that more people will come forward to donate a kidney to increase the chances of restoring the normal life of patients with renal failure.”
SMC medics conduct between eight and 10 kidney transplants a year as the parliament heard from Health Minister Faeqa Al Saleh last year. She added that country has trained doctors and there are no shortages in capabilities with four medics sent abroad for higher studies on such operations.
Mr Savage, general manager of a Dutch company in Bahrain, was discharged from hospital on Thursday and said he ‘didn’t think twice’ about helping his loving wife who is set to be released later today.
“Everyone calls me a hero, but I don’t think I have done anything big,” Mr Savage told the GDN.
“A small kidney is nothing when compared to what she has given me – for all these years that she lived with me, for us and our children.”
He said he felt a ‘bit sore’ but was recovering well.
The Savages' also thanked SMC nephrologist Dr Abdul Raqeeb Al-Omari for his professional support and medical assistance 'in making their dream come true'.
The grandparents live in Janabiya and moved to Bahrain in 2015. They have two daughters, mother-to-be Natalie, 31, married to Michael Hadwin, and Laurie, 33, married to David Waldhauser, with a daughter, Alice, aged nine.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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