State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) and a Life-Saving Liver Transplant
In a historic first since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) deployed an aircraft for a civilian medical mission. A helicopter rushed a donor liver to the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, ultimately saving an eight-month-old boy. The transplant surgery lasted 14 hours, and the infant was discharged from the hospital one month later.
Time was of the essence because a donor liver remains viable outside the body for only 10 hours. The helicopter’s flight to Kyiv took just 1.5 hours, buying the medical team six critical hours.
“From that second, a merciless timer started ticking. A donor liver stays viable outside the body for only 10 hours. We had to fit everything into that short window: organ retrieval, complex logistics, and the surgery itself. Any delay on the road would have meant the organ wouldn’t take,” SES officials reported.
The Transplant Challenges
The donor’s family consented to posthumous donation. However, the donor was an adult, while the recipient was a child, meaning surgeons had to reduce the liver’s size—a procedure that added precious time to the operation. Transplant surgeon Oleh Godik explained:
“Distance wasn’t our only challenge. The donor was an adult, and the recipient was a child, so the liver had to be surgically reduced, which eats up our most valuable resource—time. To save it, our team started removing the child’s damaged liver even before the organ arrived. We fought for literally every hour.”
Notably, in 2023, this same eight-month-old boy, named Roma, received the liver transplant. Earlier, a child named Zakhar from the Ivano-Frankivsk region underwent Ukraine’s first kidney transplant, with his grandmother as the donor. Additionally, Okhmatdyt hospital in Kyiv performed Ukraine’s first ABO-incompatible liver transplant on a four-month-old boy.
The rescued child’s mother, Olha, expressed her gratitude:
“When they told me a helicopter was sent up for Roma, I couldn’t believe it. I burst into tears and thanked them for giving my son this chance. After the transplant, I didn’t recognize him. He looked completely healthy—his eyes were white, his skin condition improved, and he was smiling. I will be endlessly grateful to everyone who helped save my boy for the rest of my life.”
This case highlights the importance of rapid medical response and innovative solutions during wartime, when traditional methods may be hindered. Using aviation for organ transport demonstrates how medical services adapt to new challenges to save lives. Such operations not only boost patients’ survival chances but also underscore the critical role of organ donation in emergencies.
This remarkable case highlights the importance of organ donation in saving lives. In a similar instance, the family of a stroke victim selflessly donated her organs, providing a second chance for three Ukrainians. To learn more about how organ donation can transform lives, visit this heartfelt story.