‘He’ll smile in new bodies,’ organ donor's family says

UŞAK - Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

The family of a 39-year-old Ahmet Kaya has expressed happiness that their deceased loved one was able to save the lives of others following a groundbreaking transplant in which the man’s body parts were donated to two different patients.

“We signed a protocol as a family and donated my father-in-law’s organs. This is such a huge step in the name of humanity; you are, in a way, transferring life from one to another,” said 23-year-old Gökay Kayveci following Jan. 21’s double surgery.

Kaya’s face was donated to one patient, while his arms and one leg were given to another.
“It is an incredibly emotional matter. I would like to see my father’s face on another person. My father’s face never smiled due to his difficult life but now he will smile on another person, we hope. I call everybody to donate their organs and bring life to other lives,” Kayveci said.

Kaya’s older sister, Fadime Çil, said she had been an organ donor for five years.

“My sister died in a traffic accident in 2006. We were not able to find the blood required for my heavily injured sister in the accident. When we lost my sister because we could not find the blood, I then became aware of organ transplants. I became an organ donor five years ago. I went to the mufti’s office, and they told me it was perfectly allowable in our religion. When I heard this, I donated my organs without any hesitation,” she said.