Man saved by rare 5-organ transplant

In a 10-hour operation, a Czech man had five organs transplanted in one procedure, saving his life, Central European News (CEN) reported.

Five years ago, Bartolomej Pesta, 60, was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. The condition, in which the liver is scarred by disease, was so far along that he required a liver transplant. Plus, the blood supply to other organs had been restricted, meaning he needed a multi-organ transplant to survive.

"I used to run and play football, and the change to ill-health was a slow deterioration where I gradually felt more tired, and it became hard even to walk by the end,” Pesta told CEN. “Every third day I went to [the] hospital to drain fluid out of my belly. The transplantation was unexpected, but I didn’t worry. I knew I was in good hands."

Pesta waited for eight weeks for the adequate organs, and shortly before Christmas 2014, doctors at the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Prague carried out the transplant surgery, leaving Pesta with a new stomach, small intestine, spleen, pancreas and liver.

Two teams of surgeons carried out the 10-hour operation, taking the organs from the deceased donor and replacing Pesta’s.

Pesta left the hospital in early January.

"They have given me my life back,” he said.

He’s recovered well from the operation and is on a restricted diet, but his belly is no longer swollen. Pesta said he is feeling better and enjoying every day with his family.

"It is great to see him doing so well,” Jiri Fronek, director of the transplant surgery department, told CEN.