Ten-year-old Rahaf Al Ahmadi, a Syrian refugee from Halifax with a rare hereditary liver disorder, has received a transplant after her family made a public plea for a donor.
Rahaf underwent the procedure July 17 at SickKids hospital in Toronto after a matching donor was found, her father, Sadek Al Ahmadi, confirmed. She returned to Halifax with her family Wednesday and remains in hospital receiving treatment.
“It’s an indescribable feeling,” Sadek said in an interview in Arabic. “Me and her mother, so many people in our community, we’re so happy.
“We are grateful to everyone who supported us and helped us spread the message,” he said. “Most importantly, we are grateful to the donor who came forward. He didn’t want his identity to be known.”
The family’s appeal was widely shared in June by friends, neighbours and members of the community as they searched for someone who could donate part of their liver to Rahaf, who was critically ill with Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis Type 3 (PFIC3). The Star also reported on the family’s plight.
