COVID-19 patient first to get new kidney after cure

After spending more than five months in and out of the hospital, Gu Yunchuan was discharged on May 22, becoming the first severe COVID-19 patient to successfully receive a kidney transplant after being cured.

President Xi Jinping said during recent deliberations with deputies to the National People's Congress from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region that China mobilized the best doctors from around the nation, the most advanced equipment and the most needed resources to Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan, to help people recover.

"We are willing to save lives at all costs. No matter how old the patients are and how serious their conditions have become, we never give up," Xi said.

In Hubei alone, more than 3,600 COVID-19 patients over the age of 80 have been cured. In Wuhan, seven centenarian patients have been cured, the oldest of whom was 108.

Gu, who is from Karamay of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, suffered from chronic kidney inflammation for more than 10 years.

His condition worsened into uremia in 2016, and he started undergoing dialysis three times a week. He went to Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University on Dec 25 for a kidney transplant.

On Jan 25, the 39-year-old, who was waiting for a kidney donor while getting dialysis treatment, came down with a fever and was diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia later.

With a high fever and difficulty breathing, he was admitted to the hospital's department of infectious diseases. He suffered multiple organ failure and became a severe COVID-19 patient.

Gong Zuojiong, a doctor at the hospital, said that along with an increase in the frequency of his dialysis treatments, Gu was also put on a ventilator and underwent anti-viral and anti-infection treatment.

In early March, Gu tested negative twice for COVID-19 and was discharged from the hospital. He was sent to another hospital for quarantine and medical observation for 14 days. After the quarantine ended, he returned to Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University for dialysis.

Zhou Jiangqiao, director of the department of organ transplant at the hospital, began to monitor Gu's condition and organized a multidisciplinary medical team to discuss the possibility of a kidney transplant. The team decided that he met the standards to undergo the surgery in late April.

On May 2, suitable organs were provided by a donor who passed away in Hubei. A day later, Zhou and other doctors performed the surgery successfully.

"I want to thank many people－the doctors and nurses at the hospital who saved my life. I do not even know what they look like as they always wore protective equipment," Gu said.

He also said he wanted to thank the anonymous donor who gave him a second chance at life and the government for covering the expenses for COVID-19 treatment.

Xinhua contributed to this story.