Kidney swap unites Turkish, Iraqi families

An Iraqi and a Turkish citizen said hello to a new chapter in their lives in the Turkish capital Ankara after a cross-kidney transplant surgery. Ayshe Siho, who fled to Turkey from Mosul after the Daesh terrorist group's attacks in Iraq, was a dialysis patient suffering from renal failure in search of a suitable kidney.

The 28-year-old mother of two had been trying to hold on to her new life in the Keçiören district of Ankara, but health problems followed her. Siho has been receiving dialysis treatment for the past year. Her aunt wanted to give her kidney to Siho, but blood incompatibility prevented her from doing so.

The Iraqi family got lucky when 21-year-old Haydar Artuç, who had been receiving the same treatment for the past 10 years, was introduced to the Siho family. Meeting at the Ankara Institute of Medical Sciences, Artuç's father Cemal agreed to give his kidney to Ayshe Siho. Likewise, Siho's mother agreed to give her kidney to Haydar.

After the successful cross-kidney operation, Dr. Erkan Olcucuoğlu, the hospital's supervisor for the Kidney Transplant Department, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that both families were willing to give their kidneys to their own family members, but their blood types did not match. "We introduced them to each other and persuaded them to give us the green light on the surgery," Olcucuoğlu said. "Their children will recover from this illness and will be happy. If they are happy, then we are," he added.

Siho said she and Artuç were saved as two young patients. "Haydar's father and my mother wanted to go through this surgery for us, so we could be saved," she said.

The two families burst with emotion as they saw their children for the first time after the surgery. "I now have a daughter named Ayshe. I would like to thank our doctors for giving us this chance," father Cemal Artuç said.