Imagine living in the rural town of Nqanqarhu in the Eastern Cape. Your little girl is diagnosed with biliary atresia and is in need of a liver transplant. Every month mom and child make the grueling 14-hour trip by bus to Johannesburg to meet with the transplant team. After all the necessary assessments, Eme is placed on the transplant list in November 2023.
On 5 February at 07:45 the lifechanging call is received that a liver is available for Eme. She needs to be in Johannesburg within the next 8 hours.
One call to Wings & Wishes, and everything is in place: The mom is sent taxi money to travel the 110 km to Mthatha to catch a flight at 14:00. At OR Tambo the transfer company is waiting for the family to take them to hospital. She arrives at hospital at 17:25.
The transplant is done on 6 February, after 5 days in ICU she opens her eyes and smiles at her mom. 2 weeks later she is moved to the ward. Eme is doing so well, she has a new lease on life!
What a privilege to be part of Eme’s story. Wings and Wishes, saving lives one trip at a time!
