Baby Archil Became a Health Ambassador

Baby Archil Became a Health Ambassador

Archil, a 17-month-old Georgian baby who was given a new life through a liver transplant in İzmir, has become Turkey’s ambassador for health tourism.

Archil’s parents, Mayya and Georgy Mamudlaze, reached David Parakkebeshvili, the father who had appeared on a television programme in Georgia to find help for his 5.5-month-old daughter Mariam, who needed a liver transplant, and gave him an address: “Our son was just like your daughter, Turkish surgeons saved him, go to İzmir in Turkey right away.” The couple Rima and David Parakkebeshvili headed straight to İzmir and said, “Archil’s family showed us the way; we are very hopeful and excited.”
Rima Paraskebeshvili, a 22-year-old housewife living in the Georgian city of Gori, and David Paraskebeshvili, who is unemployed, had their daughter Mariam 5.5 months ago. But Mariam began to have health problems from her very first day. It turned out that the little baby, whose skin kept turning yellow, had a disease called ‘biliary atresia’, a congenital absence of the bile ducts. Struggling with financial problems because of unemployment, the Paraskebeshvilis were devastated by their daughter’s illness. Mariam’s illness and her parents’ desperation became news on a Georgian television channel. The couple, who spoke about their problems on the programme, asked benefactors for financial and moral support.

‘EVERYTHING CHANGED WITH A PHONE CALL’
Father David Parakkebeshvili, who said that while they were waiting in despair a phone call changed the whole course of things, told the following:

“Our phone numbers had been given on the programme for contact. One of the viewers who called was Gregory Mamudlaze, the father of baby Archil, who had the same disease as my daughter. He told us not to be afraid and suggested that we go to the city of İzmir in Turkey. Their own son had had a liver transplant at Private Kent Hospital by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Kılıç and his team. A piece of liver taken from his aunt had been transplanted into their son. He told us that after the transplant both their son and the aunt were doing very well, and he gave us recommendations. The Gori Municipality and the health directorate covered the costs of my daughter’s surgery. Appointments were made immediately, we came to İzmir and were admitted to Kent Hospital. My wife and I were not found suitable for the transplant; her grandfather will be the donor. My wife’s father, 54-year-old Archil Tatrishvili, will give life to his granddaughter. At first we were very hopeless, we were afraid of losing our daughter. But now we are not hopeless. We have the example of Archil before us. I believe in the Turkish doctors, and I believe our daughter will leave here in good health.”

‘THE MOST SUCCESSFUL COUNTRY IN LIVING-DONOR TRANSPLANTATION’

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Kılıç, Head of the Liver Transplantation Programme at Kent Hospital, also stated that the congenital absence of the bile ducts, called ‘biliary atresia’, is the cause of at least half of the liver transplants performed in babies. Noting that after the Georgian baby Archil, Mariam from the same country had also come for a transplant because of this disease, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kılıç said:

“Living-donor liver transplantation is not performed in that region. Turkey is the country in Europe where living-donor transplants are performed most often and with the greatest success. As a team, too, we are the most experienced team, with the largest number of cases, in living-donor liver transplants, especially in babies. Biliary atresia occurs in one in every 10–15 thousand births, and these babies need urgent surgery. Living-donor transplants save lives. Now we have a second Georgian case. In the coming days we will perform this transplant together with Prof. Dr. Mehmet Alper and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Murat Zeytunlu. Baby Archil has become our ambassador in a region where these transplants are not performed.”