Doctor with a heart seeks lung donor

Star: Being a consultant respiratory physician, Dr Ashari Yunus’s Hari Raya wish was not surprising – that one of his patients in the waiting list would get a lung transplant.
This was no ordinary wish, as it would be the first time that such a procedure would be carried out locally.
But by the look of things, Dr Ashari, who has been readying himself for the task since March, might have to wait much longer.
The good doctor has already been disheartened five times over the past year and a half, when attempts to enlist a lung donor failed.
But the 45-year-old physician attached with the Institute of Respiratory Illnesses (IPR) refuses to give up, saying the search must continue.
“I do not know how long I am going to wait, but I will be patient. It’s always difficult to start the first (transplant),” he added in a telephone interview from Kuala Lumpur.
Dr Ashari explained that lung transplants were the latest involving organ transplants, adding that cornea transplants had begun in the country since the 1960s and had been well accepted by society.
He said many were unaware that lungs, like other organs, can be donated for transplants.
Dr Ashari has been visiting hospitals and attending events to explain the procedure. He has also been meeting up with patients to put them in the waiting list, which has 10 people now.
“The patients are showing patience, and so am I,” he added.
For patients living in the Klang Valley, he makes it a point to check on them every fortnight.
“I do not want their condition to deteriorate,” he stressed.

For pledge forms and other enquiries, call the Transplant Resources Centre at 1-800-88-9080 or 03-2694 2704 / 5, Ipoh Hospital at 05-522 2324, Penang Hospital at 04-200 2436, or e-mail ntrs@hkl.gov.my