Stellenbosch medical students launch SA’s first transplant support unit at Tygerberg Hospital

A specialised support unit for organ donors was officially opened at the Tygerberg Hospital on Wednesday June 4.

The unit will provide care for consented organ donors to maintain their organs’ viability during the critical 12 to 36-hour period before transplant surgery.

It was launched by Save7, a non-profit organisation that was established in 2021 by medical students at Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS).

“Unfortunately, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds are one of the most scarce medical resources in the country. 

“That often means that donors are left by the wayside, and seven people who would have been saved by that donor have to go and find somebody else. And they often don’t," said Jonty Wright, a fifth-year medical student and founder of Save7.

The unit is also called Life Pod and conservative estimates suggest that it will facilitate one to two donor cases per month.

Sachen Naidu, the secretary of Save7, said the Life Pod is “kitted out with everything you would expect – from patient monitors to infusion sets to ventilators. We have got everything needed to support and take care of a donor.”

Head of Transplant Surgery and Urology at Tygerberg Hospital, Professor André van der Merwe, said witnessing the next generation of medical professionals leading this project was inspiring.