A 16-year-old Cypriot girl became the centre of a remarkable kidney transplant chain that crossed borders, religions and nationalities, giving four people a second chance at life.
An anonymous altruistic donor from Israel, the teenager’s mother and two other families joined forces in a complex series of four linked kidney transplants. After two postponements and months of uncertainty, Fotini travelled to Israel for a third time, where a medical marathon lasting more than 12 hours was successfully completed.
Teen receives life-changing transplant
Fotini, a former dancer from Cyprus, suffers from a genetic syndrome that caused severe kidney damage. She underwent a kidney transplant in Israel after two previous operations were postponed, including one delay caused by the war with Iran.
She travelled to Israel for the third time with her mother. On the previous two occasions, a transplant date had been scheduled, but the procedures were cancelled. One postponement came on the same day she was due to travel, following the outbreak of the war with Iran.
This time, the operation was successfully completed, with the medical team beginning work at 5:00 am and finishing at 7:00 pm.
How the chain began
The kidney transplant chain was started by 52-year-old Asaf Mor from Hod Hasharon, a father of four, who donated one of his kidneys altruistically to Fotini.
Mor, who returned to Israel two years ago after living in the United States for 14 years, said he had waited years for the right opportunity to become a donor.
“When I started the process, I believed I would save one person’s life. I did not know that this small kidney would give life to four people. The result was far greater than anything I had imagined,” he said.
The chain continued at Beilinson Hospital, where Fotini’s mother, who was not a direct match for her daughter, became a suitable donor for 27-year-old Hana Shaaban from Majd al-Krum.
Shaaban had been waiting for years for a second transplant after her previous kidney graft was damaged following a Covid-19 infection.
Four linked operations
The chain continued when Hana’s husband donated a kidney to a man named Nail, while Nail’s wife donated her kidney to Orit.
The process resulted in four connected kidney transplants involving an Israeli donor, a Cypriot family, and recipients from Jewish, Muslim and Christian backgrounds.
Cyprus-Israel medical cooperation
Dr Sigal Eisner, director of the Kidney Transplant Unit at Schneider Children’s Medical Centre, who performed Fotini’s transplant, explained that Cyprus does not have dialysis services or an organised paediatric kidney transplant programme.
For this reason, she said it was vital that the procedure took place in time.
“When we completed the surgery and saw that everything had gone well, we felt enormous relief. We knew how long Fotini and her mother had waited for this moment,” she said.
Dr Hadas Alfandari, senior nephrologist at Schneider, said cross-transplant procedures allow solutions even when a donor and recipient are not directly compatible.
“Thanks to Fotini’s family agreeing to participate in the process, a chain was created that brought hope to four patients,” she said.
A medical and humanitarian milestone
Dr Aviatar Nesser, director of the Transplant Department at Beilinson Hospital, described the operation as a major organisational challenge involving the coordination of multiple surgeries and the air transfer of patients from Cyprus.
He said Israel-Cyprus medical cooperation, coordinated through the National Transplant Centre, has developed into an organised system for saving lives.
“Four cross kidney transplants are a moving, unique and extremely complex event, from identifying compatible donors and recipients to the day of surgery,” he said.
The operation involved simultaneous procedures for donors and recipients, with four transplant pairs treated consecutively over more than 12 hours.
Fotini’s mother said the repeated postponements had been extremely difficult for the family.
“We went through a long period filled with uncertainty. Twice we believed the moment had arrived, and twice everything stopped at the last minute. All we wanted was to see Fotini have the chance for a better and healthier life,” she said.
She added that learning she was not a direct match for her daughter was painful, but ultimately became a “double blessing”.
All transplant recipients have since been discharged and returned home.
Also read: Outrage in Cyprus over video of disabled person forced to expose genitals
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