Up in the air: Brazilian firefighters make unusual trip to salvage organ transplant

Sep 26, 2023 Updated 7 hrs ago



Patient Ricardo Medeiros de Oliveira reacts after a kidney transplant at the hospital Santa Casa de Juiz de Fora, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil September 25, 2023. REUTERS/Michelle Cafiero


RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - When it comes to organ transplants, every second counts.

That is why Brazilian firefighters said they took a helicopter to the top of a mountain in the southeastern state of Rio de Janeiro this month to tell Ricardo Medeiros de Oliveira they had found him a much-awaited new kidney.

Oliveira, a 48-year-old tourist guide who has been waiting for a transplant for nine years, was hiking in a remote mountain area when he received a notification informing him that there was a compatible organ for him.

But without immediate communication with Oliveira, firefighters decided to pick him up directly.

"He would have lost this organ if he had not gotten to the hospital in time," firefighter spokesperson Major Fabio Contreiras said.

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https://denvergazette.com/news/nation-world/up-in-the-air-brazilian-firefighters-make-unusual-trip-to-salvage-organ-transplant/article_94f45184-e2ea-5b53-abd0-95252af6a08a.html