KUALA LUMPUR: While her family broke down in tears, Siti Salmah
Jasni kept a cool front before being wheeled in for a double organ
transplant.
“She smiled and was relaxed. We were the ones who cried
uncontrollably,” said her mother Sabariah Mustafa yesterday.
“My daughter is the one giving me strength. She is very strong
and was prepared for the surgery.”
Sabariah also made a tearful plea to all Malaysians to pray for
Siti Salmah’s safe recovery.
Siti Salmah was accompanied from her home in Kulai, Johor, by
Sabariah, her father Jasni Zainal, 52, and sister Siti Nurzulaikha,
16, for the operation at the National Heart Institute (IJN).
She is the first person in Malaysia to receive both lungs and
heart simultaneously. The transplant surgery ended at 6am yesterday.
The 18-year old suffers from pulmonary hypertension and receives
treatment from the Institute of Respiratory Medicine. She had been
on the donor waiting list for new lungs since 2005.
Siti Salmah received the new heart because the lung disease had
affected her heart.
She received both organs from the same donor – a 24-year-old
woman from Alor Star who died after being knocked down by a
motorcycle on Tuesday morning.
Sabariah, 49, was relieved that her daughter had received the
organs and prayed for her speedy recovery.
“We were informed yesterday (Thursday) afternoon and just had
enough time to grab some clothes to come here,” she said.
Sabariah also suffers from pulmonary hypertension and has a hole
in her heart. She said she had been advised to get some rest after
being awake for almost two days.
This article was originally published in theStar Online.
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