2023-04-16 07:35:46
The testimony of the brothers Enrico and Giovanni Serra, united not only by blood ties, but by the “passion” for basketball. And, from 2020, even more from the transplant
Let’s be honest. Why would anyone ever donate an organ? “I challenge anyone to be faced with the risk of losing a family member and, given the opportunity to save them, not to do it. It felt very natural. There has never been a real obstacle. My brother was in trouble and he needed me ». Enrico Serra40 years old from Forlì, a 33-year-old partner, Francesca, and an almost two-year-old son, Riccardo, a digital communication consultant for Ferrari, did not have a moment’s hesitation.
On December 4, 2020, in the midst of the Covid pandemicentered the operating room at Sant’Orsola in Bologna and “gave” a kidney that was transplanted to his brother John, eight years older, a 44-year-old partner, Arianna, and two children aged 12 and 11, Filippo and Leonardo. An “assist” under the basket, one of those that are worth a lifetime. Because what unites the Serra brothers, in addition to their blood bond, is their passion for basketball. The one played: Gianni «wing», Enrico «center». Gianni coaches in Serie D and like Enrico he is part of the national transplant team of Aned (National Hemodialysis Association). Tell their experienceshow without hesitation the two faces of the transplant (donor and recipient), has become a “mission”.
The illness
“I suffer from a genetic disease, which is polycystic kidney disease. I discovered it by chance, during an ultrasound done to look for something else – says Gianni -. Furthermore, I have no evidence in the family, no one had had kidney problems. I’m from Forlì, but 25 years after the hospital’s Nephrology they referred me to the more specialized one in Bergamo for my pathology. The disease has two strains: aggressive and non-aggressive. The first happened to me. It manifested itself more or less around the age of 40. Even then, in Bergamo they told me to get ready and find a center closer to home because within ten years I would need a transplant. I spoke about it at home and Enrico immediately made himself available».
How did the brother react? «Transplantation is a particular topic – says Enrico -. It’s often easy to have a point of view, but then when you’re really faced with it, you change your mind. I’ve always been supportive, however it’s always been a very concept
abstract. Yes, I had already registered my assent on my identity card, but it was the classic act of a good aware citizen. There was never the thought process: if it happened to me, what would I do? Then when you find it, it’s a whole other thing. But from my point of view it was completely natural and obvious. And I did. Of course, with all the reassurances of the case from the doctors that my life would not have changed but this happened later ».
The situation precipitates
The situation escalated in 2020, in full Covid and with the red zones. “I didn’t go to the hospital for a year and a half, I skipped checkups. I don’t know why – reports Gianni -. I was fine and these are things that sometimes happen. In short, I had devastating renal colic, I had to call an ambulance and they took me to the hospital. Two or three days of delirium. The primary of Nephrology in Reggio Emilia, where I was followed, asked me if I already had a living donor. I replied that three years earlier I had talked about it at home and my brother and also my mother were available. “I know that in 7 or 8 years I should have a transplant,” I said. “No, at most you have 7/8 months of time”she replied. So I made the famous call home: “Chicco listen, I have this problem, are you still available?”. He said yes.”
The countdown
From there, the “countdown” to the transplant begins: visits, analyses. Thankfully the compatibility of the fabrics was perfect. «In October they removed my most damaged kidney, undergoing a nephrectomy. Because of Covid, it was a very complicated period. There was also the fear that a contagion would have compromised everything ». The nephrectomy proved to be the most complicated part of the process. «I entered the operating room at 8 in the morning and opened my eyes at 10 in the evening in the ICU. I began to understand something at 4 in the morning. The evening of the next day I was able to pick up the phone and texted ok home. After the surgery I was on dialysis for a month and a half. The transplant itself, on the other hand, at a surgical level, was a walk in the park».
The day of the transplant
And the long-awaited moment arrives. On December 3, 2020 Enrico and Gianni reach the Sant’Orsola, hospitalized in the same room and subjected to the last routine tests. The appointment with the surgeons had been scheduled for the next day. What goes through your mind in those moments? «Everyone is done in his own way, I have a very ostrich-like attitude – replies Enrico -. Feelings? I was a little scared. I had never been under the knife, never had general anesthesia. I had been in the hospital for more than a day when I was 10 for tests. It was certainly a strong impact, but it helped me a lot to find incredible people around me. I felt safe and in good hands which, when your life is at stake, everyone they hope».
“I realized 100 percent what was happening the moment they put us on a couch.” Did you say something? “I don’t remember, but I do lots of tenderness, lots of physical contact, shining eyes, hand in hand, probably few words. The words came later. First we needed to wake up, that everything had gone well ».
Mission accomplished
The surgery succeeds. But the brothers can’t see each other yet. Gianni explains: «In transplantation from a living person, when donor and recipient leave the operating room they are never placed in the same room. Because the course has different needs and requirements for precautions. You want to avoid psychological repercussions, even up to depression, which could occur in the recipient seeing the donor being sick. I was very worried about my brother and would have been willing to give up the transplant even the day before, if he had asked me. He did the big thing, not me. I received. I thank every single day that I’m still here».
Henry adds:Upon full awakening? A bad dog, because that was the first sensation. But I don’t text because I’ve never done an operation before. I wanted to know how Gianni was. We were in two different departments at Sant’Orsola in Bologna which is huge. The thought was that. If there was something I didn’t know… Then we were under Covid and that complicated everything. We couldn’t get close because my brother was the most at risk. They discharged me a few days late due to a fever that didn’t go away. I went to the door of the Nephrology department, he came out of his room and we said goodbye like that».
The recovery
Moments of difficulty, after the transplant? “I was a healthy person before the explantation and I am still healthy now. I have no disability of any kind and also from a legal point of view I was recognized to the extent of 20%. As the doctors always told me before the operation, donors tend to live longer than normal people because you are always very controlled and you follow a healthier lifestyle», says Enrico.
«I’ve always been a basketball sportsman, but I stopped playing when I had the transplant. The first thing I asked when my partner and I called in Bologna to explain what the operating procedure would be like, also clarifying the risks perfectly, was if I could go back on the field after the operation. A question dictated more than by passion, by an unshakable faith in the health system and doctors. When I put myself in the hands of a doctor I’m not afraid. So I didn’t even consider the possibility that something could go wrong», says Gianni.
The watershed
For the Serra brothers, the transplant proved to be a watershed also from the point of view of social commitment. «Before I didn’t even know of the existence of Aned – continues Gianni -. I was a sick-not sick, basically healthy person with kidney failure. I wasn’t close to associations, I wasn’t involved in raising awareness of these or other issues. Immediately after the operation I have got my coaching licence. I coached in Serie D, but I didn’t want to stop playing. After a year I went to my doctor and said, “I want to start over.” It was he who introduced me to Aned. Then I found the phone number of a transplanted participant of the national basketball team and since then I have joined the team and also in the world of volunteering ».
The message to those who do not want to donate
Despite the efforts and results of recent years in the field of transplants, in Italy a “hard core” of about 30% of the population still refuses to donate their own organs. How to convince them? Enrico replies as follows: «When I find myself talking about it with people who are against it, I always make this objection: the donation from the deceased “costs nothing”. Once dead, our body is still destined for an inglorious end. Instead making our body make sense even after we’re gone, that’s a big challenge. Feelings come into play when you are alivefear completely different sensations from putting a cross on when you renew your identity card and not thinking about it again for the rest of your life whether it’s a day, a month, ten or a hundred years”.
Gianni is very keen to avoid any form of pietism or even worse superomism. «At every public meeting, my brother and I try to make it clear that we are not surviving, but living a new life. Often people look at you and say: man, you move, you play, but how good. We don’t need the pity of others. And it is even more wrong to think that whoever donates an organ is a hero. Instead, it’s natural.”
Life goes on
And now? It goes on. From normal people. Enrico, will you explain to your son what you did? “Sure why not. Now it’s a bit early but the scar I wear is quite evident and I will talk about it with joy and happiness. Because, as in all things, you start from small, from the example, from the experience of the people who are next to you to get an idea of how the world is». Gianni instead flew to Australia to participate in the World transplant championships
, which take place in Perth from 15 to 23 April. Wishes or predictions? «My teammates won the bronze medal at the last world championships. The premises are therefore positive, and given that the goal is always to do better than the previous result, we are aiming directly for the top step of the podium », he assures.
The aftermath is a life “resumed in a big way” as Gianni is keen to underline. «I have a huge responsibility, which is that of my children. In addition to the importance of raising them well, I also feel the responsibility of communicating to them the importance of the gift, of what it means to give. They know everything, from the first day to the last. The youngest asked me if he needed a kidney in the future, who could give it to him. I respond with the commitment that I am trying to put into these activities. My droplet in the sea, to be able to make the world understand that giving is important».
April 16, 2023 (change April 16, 2023 | 07:35)
© Time.News
#beautiful #basket #lives #time.news