Family members become living kidney donors, highlighting benefits and Czech transplant stats

Eva experienced kidney failure at 31 and received a living donor kidney from her mother Jindřiška in March 2011 at Prague's IKEM. When Eva's sister Kateřina's kidneys failed in 2016, the family turned to her stepfather Oldřich, who underwent extensive testing and lost weight before donating in May 2017, despite a less-than-ideal tissue match that required plasma exchange. Today, both sisters work and raise children, and the donors, now in their seventies, remain in good health.

Czech data show 603 kidney transplants in 2025, but only 39 were from living donors. Specialists stress that living donations typically last about 25 years versus 12 years for deceased donors, and that many patients are unaware of how to approach potential donors. Resources such as TransplantaceNeniTabu.cz aim to educate patients and dispel myths, including the belief that donors must be blood relatives.