ABOUT US

The Transplant Support Group (Malta) is a philanthropic, not for profit NGO which was founded on the 9th of May 2000 to be of service and gives support to all persons who are recipients of an organ or tissue or are waiting to be transplanted with an organ or tissue. Membership also includes patients who are receiving Dialysis/CAPD treatment for kidney failure at the Renal Unit, Mater Dei Hospital or at their residence.

The founder of TSG was the late Alfred Debattista. Alfred was the first person to ever receive a heart during an organ donation operation done in Malta and went on to enjoy life to the full for many years after his operation.

The aim of the TSG is multiple:

  • To encourage members of the public to sign up as organ donors
  • To bring together and support all transplantees  and those waiting for an organ donation.
  • To honor the memory of our deceased donors and keep in contact with their next of kin (where such information is public knowledge).
  • Liaison with the Health Authorities and other similar groups to further the interests of both organ donors and potential and existing recipients.
  • To raise awareness and educate about various issues that may affect donors and transplantees and their families.

Committee

Samuel Bonnici

Assistant Treasurer

Josette Parnis

Member

Life After Drew sub-committee

Samuel Bonnici

Assistant Treasurer

Josette Parnis

Member

OBJECTIVES

The Transplant Support Group (Malta) has a number of key objectives:

  • To encourage  members of the public to sign up as organ donors (link to “Become a donor” page).

  • To bring together and support all transplantees  and those waiting for an organ donation.

  • To honor the memory of our deceased donors and keep in contact with their next of kin (where such information is public knowledge).

  • Liaison with the Health Authorities and other similar groups to further the interests of both organ donors and potential and existing recipients.

  • To raise awareness and educate about various issues that may affect donors and transplantees and their families.

ORGAN DONATION IN MALTA

  • The first heart transplant in Malta took place on September 25 1996.  Joe Bonello, who is now secretary of the Transplant Support Group, received a heart transplant from a 17-year-old youth. The all-Maltese medical team was led by Mr Alex Manche.

  • The Transplant Support Group, a philanthropic, non-profit making NGO was founded on May 9, 2000 by a group of organ recipients on the initiative of Alfred Debattista who, nine months earlier, was transplanted with the heart of a young Gozitan donor.

IMPORTANT FACTS

  • Transplants are one of the most miraculous achievements of modern medicine. However, these miracles depend entirely on the generosity of donors and their families

  • One donor can save the life of several people, restore the sight of two others and improve the quality of life of many more

  • Tissue donation is the gift of tissue such as corneas, skin, bone, tendons, cartilage and heart valves to help others
  • Although extremely rare, it is theoretically possible that an organ, such as a heart, is transplanted more than one time
  • When someone dies in a traffic accident, everything dies with them, except for the cornea, which has to be stored within 24 hours. A person has to die at the ITU in order for organs to be donated.
  • Organs are only removed for transplantation after a person has died. To ensure that a person is definitely deceased, two medical officers, in no way connected with the process of transplantation, will certify one’s death, separately and at different times following separate tests that are carried out. It is only when this certainty is ensured that the process of organ removal, following the consent of the next-of-kin, can commence.
  • No one’s corpse will be in any way maltreated. Specialised medical officers will operate on the body, exercising utmost care and ensuring the dignity of the deceased. When this is all over, there will be no visible signs of the removal of the organs.
  • The doctors will always try and save your life. Your life comes first and foremost and every doctor’s duty is to preserve life till the very end. It is only when one is finally certified as brain dead that the final process of the removal of organs can proceed. Whereas a coma is reversible, brain death is not. When one is brain dead, organs are kept alive artificially so they can be donated for transplantation.

    • The Church encourages the donation of one’s organs after death and expresses this noble gesture as an act of love and a gift of life.