GEORGE NEWS - Sponsors are being sought to save the life of a 38-year-old father from George who will need private dialysis treatments as from the beginning of August.
The new kidney that Joseph Tigere received at Groote Schuur Hospital in 2015 stopped working in November last year.
Although peritoneal dialysis (filtering inside the body) at home worked for him before his kidney transplant, this time around he was getting too many infections and the doctor at the George Hospital renal unit advised that this method was not an option any more.
Therefore the unit has been temporarily helping Tigere for the past two and a half months with hemodialysis (filtering through a machine), but there are certain criteria he does not meet to qualify for treatment in a state hospital in the long term.
Tigere has been given six weeks to make arrangements for private dialysis, and those six weeks end on 31 July. His wife, Regina, and children, Memory (13) and John (16), are devastated. They are a close-knit family. If he does not receive dialysis, it will be only days before he dies.
"My time is so limited now," says Tigere.
Huw Pritchard, a Good Samaritan who has been a great support to the Tigere family over the years, says a private company is looking into giving Tigere dialysis two times a week at a much reduced cost on a temporary basis.
"They will only provide the treatment long-term if Joseph is on a medical aid and the latter will not cover the dialysis during his first year of membership. He cannot afford the treatment or the medical aid, and we are hoping that there are people out there who might contribute towards these costs for one year. This can save Joseph's life. After a year, the cost will only be the monthly premium," says Pritchard.
"The cost for the two dialysis treatments and the medical aid premium would amount to roughly R10 000 per month. The dialysis, at a reduced cost, would be R1 000 per treatment and the medical aid premium R2 000 per month."
Pritchard is calling on anyone who can make a monthly contribution of any amount to please help. He may be contacted on 074 350 9938 for more information.
George Herald in 2015 reported on the joy of the Tigere family when he finally received the kidney he had been waiting for for about four years.
He is known at the hospital as a responsible and model patient.
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