Longer article on cat bite/MY kidney transplant man

[Guest guest]

[i am a little suspicious of the description of how the cat came to bite the

man]

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Pioneer kidney transplant patient dies

New Straits Times

12 Jun 2006

Annie Freeda Cruez and Nancy Nais

 

KUALA LUMPUR: One would have expected Martin Rinyeb, 61, the country’s first

and longest-surviving kidney transplant patient, to die of a kidney-related

problem.

 

But Rinyeb, a Land Dayak of Sarawak, who lived 31 years with a kidney from a

younger brother, died of complications from a bite from a stray cat.

 

He was bitten on the ankle by the cat in his house in Kampung Sebuloh, Bau,

on March 23 and died two days later.

 

Consultant urologist Datuk Dr Hussein Awang, who made Malaysian medical

history with the transplant, is now the director of Tawakal Hospital.

 

" I was shocked to hear of his death, " said Dr Hussein.

 

Recalling the transplant operation on Dec 15, 1975, he said: " There was

excitement at the Institute of Urology and Nephrology in Hospital Kuala

Lumpur. I was trained to perform renal transplants in Australia and I was

waiting for the first patient. "

 

He said Rinyeb, then a Mara field officer, was suffering from acute renal

failure and was referred to the HKL by a doctor in Kuching in late 1975.

 

Rinyeb had a donor in his younger brother Augustin, a veterinary student.

 

" Their kidneys matched perfectly. We decided to do the transplant as we were

prepared, " said Dr Hussein, who prior to that had been sent for two years’

training in urology and renal transplant at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

in Sydney.

 

A 12-member team headed by Dr Hussein performed the six-hour surgery at the

urology operation theatre, starting about 8am.

 

Dr Hussein said: " I knew the operation was successful and everything was

going well when we attached the kidney and straight away saw the urine

coming out. There was much excitement. "

 

On the 10th day, Rinyeb was up and about, walking and meeting people. He was

discharged three weeks later.

 

The success of the operation was a momentous occasion, marking Malaysia’s

entry into the field of organ transplants. Nearly 20 years later, the

country saw the first heart and liver transplant.

 

The kidney transplant programme moved on rapidly after the pioneering effort

in 1975. Since then, more than 1,000 kidney transplants have been carried

out.

 

Dr Hussein did 101 of these operations at HKL and six at Tawakal Hospital.

 

 

Wife: ‘Cat poisoning’, not renal failure the cause

 

KUCHING: Martin Rinyeb was watching television in the evening of March 23

when a stray cat entered his house.

 

" The cat suddenly went up to Rinyeb and bit him on the right ankle, " his

wife, Diken Dolem, 56, said.

 

The next morning, Rinyeb’s ankle swelled up and he felt feverish and

nauseous, but he refused to seek treatment.

 

The following day, when Rinyeb’s condition worsened, he was sent to the Bau

Hospital. He died at 5pm the same day.

 

Dolem said the cause of death was stated as " cat poisoning " . " And we thought

he would die of kidney failure. "

 

Recalling her husband’s operation in 1975, Dolem said: " It was the first

time I had left my village and I was very frightened. When the doctors came

out and smiled at me, I knew everything was all right. "

 

She said the doctors cautioned that Rinyeb’s transplanted kidney would last

between 10 and 15 years.

 

His younger brother Augustine Sitin, 53, who donated the kidney said his

brother continued to lead a healthy life long after the transplant.

 

Rinyeb continued to work as a clerk with Mara until his retirement at 55.

 

Rinyeb is survived by five children aged between 24 and 37 and three

grandchildren.

 

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