After battling a kidney disease for more than five years, Thabo Michael Mvalo from Kimberley received the lifesaving gift of a new kidney and is now recovering from his transplant at the Universitas Academic Hospital.
The 32-year-old husband – who is employed as a soldier at the military base in Kimberley – underwent a very successful transplant surgery at Universitas in Bloemfontein on Thursday, 26 October.
Mvalo has since been discharged from the facility after he had been hospitalised there for almost ten days.
“I’m currently at home with my family. And I’m fighting fit after receiving a life-saving kidney. I’m happy the transplant was successful.” he said.
“It’s only a couple of days since the operation, and I’m already able to do some exercises. I’m doing fantastically now. I don’t feel any pain,” he added.
Mvalo is very thankful for his wife, Judith Mvalo (32) who donated her organ to him, saying that she had given him a gift of life.
Mvalo was a match for her husband and was ready to make the life-changing decision to be an organ donor.
“My wife is an angel. She is so amazing. She gave me an ultimate gift of life. I am incredibly blessed. I love her to the moon and beyond,” said Mvalo.
“Initially, my blood brother had agreed to donate his kidney to me. He was a perfect match. He passed all the tests he had but the last one.
“So, that’s when Judith decided to give me her organ,” he explained.
Mvalo further said that he thanked the Free State Department of Health and the doctors as well as the nurses at Universitas Academic Hospital “for the good work that they are doing there”.
Mvalo had been suffering from a kidney failure since 2018 and was facing a lifetime of dialysis treatment until surgeons performed the transplant.
“From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank Dr Feziwe Bisiwe and the incredible multidisciplinary team of doctors who worked with her during the entire process. They did a marvelous job prior to and post-surgery. The nursing staff at Universitas Academic Hospital were also amazing.”
Mvalo says he felt absolutely fine and healthy until the day he fell to the ground while at work. He was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a kidney failure.
“I had been in and out of hospital for dialysis before the operation. But a transplant operation has changed my life indeed. I’m living a normal life again.” Mvalo concluded.
