'One stop shop' transplant centre opens at Birmingham hospital
Mr Vorajee was diagnosed with end-stage heart failure at 37 years old and spent three months in a coma at the QEHB while he waited for a transplant. He said he "owed everything to the heart donor who saved his life".
'All in one location'
The new centre, which was funded by the University Hospitals Birmingham Charity, provides patients with pre-transplant consultations, additional fitness classes prior to surgery, support groups and rehabilitation classes after surgery."Patients can come in and see their physician, the surgeon, the transplant coordinators, their psychologist and their dietician all on the same day and in one location," Mr Murphy said.QEHB is one of the leading transplant centres in Europe for heart, liver, lung and kidney surgeries. Mike Hammond from the charity added that the new facility would help the hospital increase the number of transplants it carried out and complete research to make transplants "more successful and last longer".
Ben Jeszka received a liver transplant at the QEHB and said he felt "the best he ever had". "I'm swimming, running, going on holidays again, and getting back into work; it's done so much for me," Mr Jeszka said.Seven years after he received his transplant, Mr Vorajee said he was looking forward to playing table tennis at the World Transplant Games. He added that "with his new heart", he no longer took things for granted. "I feel that it hasn't changed me as a person, but I'm making the most of my new life now thanks to my donor," he said.
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