Matthew and his mother, Janet, began the Matthew’s Journey and the Hero777 Facebook pages when the family realised the critical need for people to register and talk with their family about being an organ and tissue donor. The exact numbers are not clear but thousands of people are affected in South Africa due to the low number of donor referrals. Matthew has been on the Organ Transplant List for almost seven years, needing a life-saving Heart and Bi-lateral Lung transplant.
As a family, we believe that Organ and Tissue Donors are Heroes because their gift can save up to 7 lives and help up to 50 more people. We also know the difficulty of making this decision because this “Gift of Life” is given at the time of “Greatest Grief” for the donor family.
This is ALL TRUE, because we are deeply grateful to tell the followers of Matthew’s Journey and Hero777 that Matthew has just received his life saving organ transplant. Due to Matthew’s previous operations, the transplant operation was actually a very difficult process. The Transplant Team and hospital staff performed the transplant over a period of 12 hours. Matthew is now in recovery in ICU, but remains in a critical condition as his body learns to work with the new organs. The healing process will most likely take another few weeks in hospital and then another 6 months at home, but Matthew’s life will NEVER be the same again!
This makes us, as a family, even more determined to help the other people in South Africa who need a lifesaving transplant. Over the next few weeks we will share some information of Matthew’s progress, as well as the dreams that Matthew had for activities for next year to raise awareness.
Thank you to all the friends, family and medical personal who helped Matthew and his family through this process with support and prayers. Please also be aware that in order to protect Matthew’s health, only his parents will be able to see him in hospital over the next few weeks. Please respect the family’s privacy at this time and we’ll try to, where possible, keep you informed of his progress.
