A boy from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast underwent his second organ transplant at the age of eight
A boy from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, who had lived for six months without kidneys while on continuous dialysis, has successfully undergone a second organ transplant.
This was reported by the Center for Pediatric Medicine.
After prolonged treatment and a battle against the disease’s recurrence, the child finally went home to fulfill his dream—to have tea with his brother.
Doctors made their first attempt to save Zakhar back in 2023, when his grandmother became the donor for her grandson. Unfortunately, due to the insidious nature of the disease, the new organ was eventually damaged, leading to a critical condition in the child.
Last summer, the situation became so dire that doctors were forced to remove the transplanted kidney due to a dangerous infection.
“Last August, Zakhar was on the brink of life and death. The septic condition arose due to an infection in the transplanted kidney, and the only option was to remove it,” said Dr. Olena Klub.
After the organ was removed, the boy remained in a state of anuria for six months, completely dependent on hemodialysis procedures.
This meant strict restrictions on fluid intake and constant artificial blood purification to remove toxins within the medical facility.
A chance for a full life emerged in March 2026, when the Ukrainian Transplant Coordination Center announced the availability of a compatible donor.
The day after all test results were confirmed, surgeons performed a complex second kidney transplant on Zakhar.
Despite the successful procedure, doctors again encountered signs of a relapse of the underlying disease, which threatened the new organ.
However, this time the specialists employed innovative treatment methods, combining modern global therapy protocols with plasmapheresis procedures.
Clinic Director Roman Andrunevich noted that the medical team followed the recommendations of their Japanese and German colleagues to overcome the crisis.
“We applied specific modern recommendations from our Japanese and German colleagues, as well as a new regimen of immunosuppressive therapy combined with plasmapheresis. This yielded positive results, and today we can confidently say that the relapse has been overcome,” he explained.
Today, the boy’s condition is stable, and for the first time in eight months, he was able to leave the hospital ward and return home.
What Zakhar was looking forward to most was seeing his loved ones and simply being able to enjoy his favorite drink without medical restrictions.
As a reminder, Jude Walker, an 11-year-old boy from northern England, set out on foot for London, collecting signatures along the way for a petition to introduce a carbon tax.
Also, in the Vinnytsia region, a 10-year-old boy with a disability died of starvation.
