About the exact date Ralf Zietz have to think for a Moment. The day that changed his life, the 19. August 2010. On this day, Zietz and his wife Marlies donates kidney to his rights. Due to an auto-immune disease it is at the time of the dialysis-dependent. An Organ on the waiting list is not in sight. With the transplant everything will be as before: “I wanted to have my wife back and our lives,” recalls the now 54-Year-old. “And it was a also suggests that it works.”

eight years later, Zietz’ case is coming up on Tuesday for the hearing at the Karlsruhe Federal court of justice (BGH) (Az. VI ZR 318/17, etc.). Together with a second kidney donor, he has to eat the University hospital for the Transplantation of the responsible physician to pain of money and damages sued. Because Zietz has given his wife some of the better years. But the price was according to his words: “My life has halved, in principle.”

Before the procedure, the entrepreneurs from the lower Saxony Thedinghausen leads in Bremen, two companies with dozens of employees in the family with four children in education, he is the breadwinner. After that, he wants to continue like this and soon notices that Something is not right. “At first, it felt like the usual OP-follow. But it’s just not less, it was in the course of time.”

living donation must be reviewed “carefully”

According to the German organ transplantation Foundation (DSO), needs to be rethought a living donation “carefully, because it is a surgical procedure on a healthy person solely for the sake of another”. The law allows living donors only among close Relatives and very close people – if the donor is “not at risk probably the risk of surgery, or the immediate consequences of the withdrawal, health is severely impaired”. The first choice should always be an organ of a dead.

report from National Geographic, the 18-Katie loses her face – transplant a new life By Susanne sublime

But the post broke donation cadaveric organ 2017, the lowest level since 20 years, gives her. Live, most of the cases, a kidney or part of liver donation in the all – for Waiting and their families a Chance, their importance has increased significantly. 2017 557 1921 transplanted kidney living donations, are 29 percent. The donor and the recipient undergo a carefully regulated process of selection trials and Betorder interviews.

Also, Ralf and Marlies Zietz go through 2010 with this process. His wife had been afraid of him, he says. But the Doctors had warned that without the donation, their life expectancy is shortening significantly. “I was told, there are the usual surgery risks like any surgery, and of course there is a certain amount of convalescence – but after six to eight weeks, it is back to the Old you.”

After the donation of his kidney is not Zietz tired, without energy

But Zietz of the Old. He suffers from chronic fatigue, forgetful. When he describes his day, sounds like: After getting the battery is filled, hardly, in the morning, a good few hours, at noon, he lies down with a headache, in the afternoon, he looks up sometimes from the window. Zietz is convinced: “This is due to the low kidney function.” In the evening, when he gets better, he is dedicated to the self-help Association, he has, in the meantime, founded, the community of interest kidney living donation (IGN). The responsibility in his companies, he has delivered to a large extent.

That Zietz kidney today, according to formal criteria, is sick, is diagnosed. That is, the exhaustion comes, can’t be proven, although there are also other kidney donors with such complaints. Zietz feel of his Doctors cheated, they had him concealed against his better Knowledge of the risks of surgery. He says: Would have told him at the time, someone that he has to contend with such restrictions, he would not have donated. “Definitely no.”

In the process has not helped him so far. The higher regional court of Hamm has recently found that there were shortcomings: The preliminary talk at the hospital not a neutral doctor. The content of education was “inadequate”. The judges assessed Zietz, however, that he had donated to his wife in regard to all risks, in any case, the kidney – to great was her suffering, to his willingness to help. Legally is called the “hypothetical consent”.

A manslaughter argument, Zietz, it could rotate, ultimately, every organ donor is a sweater, the fears for a loved one and the Doctors would always get away Scot-free. He hopes to have a landmark judgment of the Supreme court. The 100,000 euros for Pain and suffering, to which he complained, were for him of secondary importance. “That would not make it far, Far away from betting, what I lost in quality of life.”

The University will not comment on the ongoing process to Zietz’ allegations and the current processes. In the process put forward was that it had given the risk information, not deficits.

marriage after organ transplantation, two donor hearts together in love

Although Daniel and Johanna rosary are, at first glance, a very normal Couple, is their love, however, unusual In their Breasts beat other people’s hearts. They have only survived thanks to a donor heart.

Anja bread smelled/ikr / DPA