MY STORY: The fight to stay alive
'I thought that it was the end for me, my life was over'
WHEN he was told by a doctor seven years ago that he had end-stage renal disease (chronic kidney disease), all Sabelo Mchunu heard was: ‘You are going to die.’
But Mchunu – who recently celebrated his 50th birthday – has been managing his condition for seven years by undergoing dialysis three times a week, living in hope that he will eventually have a life-saving kidney transplant.
‘It all started when my leg began swelling and I visited a number of doctors. No one could not tell me what was wrong. It was only when I went to a doctor in Durban that I was told I’m in end-stage renal failure and my kidneys had stopped working.
‘At first I had no idea what that meant, I thought that it was the end for me, my life was over.’
He said a kidney transplant or relying on a dialysis machine were the only options left.
According to Organ Donor Foundation of South Africa, there are about 4 300 South Africans waiting for organ and cornea transplants and in 2016 there were 512 organ and cornea transplants.
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