An 8-month-old boy was saved at Okhmatdyt; the donor liver was delivered by air
The Okhmatdyt National Children's Specialized Hospital, the State Emergency Service, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces jointly saved the life of 8-month-old Roma from Volyn, who urgently needed a liver transplant.
This was reported by the Okhmatdyt National Children’s Specialized Hospital.
The family was expecting their fifth child, but shortly after being discharged from the maternity ward, the boy’s mother noticed alarming symptoms.
The baby’s eyes turned yellow, and his condition began to deteriorate rapidly. The child became lethargic, refused to eat, was not gaining weight, and developed severe jaundice.
After an emergency transfer to Kyiv, doctors at Okhmatdyt diagnosed biliary atresia.
This is a severe congenital condition that disrupts bile flow, causes liver damage, and requires an organ transplant.
Doctors fought for the boy’s life for several months and supported his vital functions, but due to the rapid deterioration of liver function, a transplant became his only chance for survival.
His relatives were unable to serve as donors, so the doctors waited for a non-related donor.
In April, an opportunity arose thanks to a deceased donor. After confirming compatibility, another problem arose—the donor organ was located 400 kilometers from Kyiv.
“When a donor organ becomes available, decisions must be made instantly. The longer it remains outside the body, the higher the risks of complications and rejection. That’s why we sought a way to deliver it to the hospital as quickly as possible,” said Oleksandr Urin, Director General of the Okhmatdyt National Children’s Specialized Hospital.
To transport the organ, the hospital turned to the State Emergency Service for help. Despite martial law and security risks, rescuers and the Defense Forces quickly organized an air corridor.
Within an hour and a half, the donor liver was delivered to Kyiv by air.
Doctors explained that the complexity also lay in the fact that the donor was an adult, while the recipient was a small child.
“It wasn’t just the distance that posed a challenge. The donor was an adult, and the recipient was a child, so the liver had to be surgically reduced in size, which takes away our most precious resource—time. To save time, our team began removing the child’s damaged liver even before the organ arrived. We were literally fighting for every hour,” noted transplant surgeon Oleg Godik.
The operation lasted 14 hours and was successful.
The boy’s mother, Olga, admits that she couldn’t hold back her emotions when she learned about the scale of the operation to save her son.
“When they told me that a helicopter had been sent up into the sky for Roma’s sake—I couldn’t believe it; I burst into tears and thanked them for this chance for my little son. After the transplant, I didn’t recognize him. He looked completely healthy: his eyes were clear, his skin had improved, and he was smiling. I will be infinitely grateful for the rest of my life to everyone who helped save my boy,” the woman said.
A month after the transplant, Roma is already getting ready to go home.
The hospital expressed gratitude to the medical staff, the State Emergency Service rescuers, the Ukrainian Defense Forces, and the donor’s family, who agreed to posthumous donation and saved the child’s life.
Earlier, at the Okhmatdyt National Children’s Specialized Hospital, doctors and staff honored the memory of 13-year-old Ivan, who became a donor after his death and saved the lives of four patients.
Thanks to the Ukrainian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, a genetic match was found for 34-year-old Zinoviy from Kyiv, who had been battling aplastic anemia for a long time. Unfortunately, there were no suitable donors among his relatives. However, the registry identified a 21-year-old man who donated his hematopoietic cells.
