In Kyiv, a heart transplant was performed on a 5-year-old boy at the Okhmatdyt hospital.. The donor for the little patient was a 13-year-old teenager who died in an accident.

A guy from the Odessa region was injured in the pool - he fell to the floor and hit himself. He was taken to the capital, but could not be saved. Parents agreed to posthumous donation, says Suspilne.

Thanks to this decision, the child's organs were transplanted into four patients..

The boy needed an organ transplant due to a defect he had from birth. His mother said that her son had his first operation when he was one year old, but his condition subsequently worsened..

" We immediately agreed,” says Oksana Zherebova.

According to transplantologist Sergei Mokhnaty, donors with the most similar build are usually selected for transplantation. Despite the fact that in this case the age difference was significant, the operation was still possible.

“Due to a heart defect, the child’s intrathoracic space was increased, which made it possible to implant a larger heart,” the doctor explained.

Now Nikolai is being prepared for discharge. After post-operative recovery is complete, he will be able to live a normal life..

According to the Ukrainian Center for Transplant Coordination, there are about four thousand patients on the waiting list for organ transplants, among them about 100 are children. Patients most in need of kidney, liver and heart transplants.