About 3,000 Bulgarians are on hemodialysis, while nearly 900 are in the list of those, who need kidney transplantations. However, such surgeries are rare in Bulgaria due to the lack of a sufficient number of donors and the ill people have to wait for years for their turn to come. We can only say that in 2014 – a good year, compared to others, there have been a bit over 40 kidney transplantations so far. In 2013 those were 28, to say nothing on 2012, when the lucky ones were barely 13, according to data of the Executive Agency in Transplantation with the Healthcare Ministry. You can figure it out on your own how much time will those 900 people have to wait, and their number grows by 50 – 60 per year. This black statistics wouldn’t stop here. The alarming thing is that 12 percent of people on dialysis do not wait for the operation. That is why many are forced to look for salvation on their own abroad. Such patients tried to solve their problems in Pakistan till recently, but transplantations there are illegal, often related to serious risks and complications, or even death. Spain is a relatively new destination for Bulgarians, as it is the European leader in the number of transplantations per capita. Besides that, no queues can be found there and the healthcare system is really liberal. 35-year-old Nikolay Nikolov from Kardzhali is one of the Bulgarians, who went to Spain, hoping to get their normal life back. Both kidneys of the young man have refused to work and as of two years he has to be connected to blood-cleansing apparatus three times a week:

“As Bulgaria is an EU member-state, Niki did a research and found out about his right to transfer his healthcare rights to the Spanish system, waiting to be included in their transplantation lists,” explains Elitsa Stoyanova, a close friend of his. “However, he has to live in Spain, in order to do that. He is there right now. He went there in April and has been waiting ever since. It takes a few months to a year, when the transplantation date itself will be determined.”

Elitsa goes on to say that due to the hemodialysis Niki gets tired quickly and cannot even sit in front of the computer for too long, to say nothing of any work. He needs money, though. Then relatives and friends come to help. This is not the only time, when young Bulgarians organize different charity initiatives, in order to help their coeval. Elitsa, a software engineer, an amateur violinist and a singer in her free time, also decided to organize a charity concert, named A Friend in Need is A Friend Indeed. So, on Sunday, November 2, onstage at Studio 5 downtown Sofia one can hear acoustic music, Irish dances and authentic Bulgarian folklore. Elitsa does know that people are generous and ready to give their hand to someone in need. If you want to support Niki, you can find more details in Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/events/288416071263877/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

English version: Zhivko Stanchev