Chrysoula is one of the many Greeks who has to leave Greece for a life-saving organ transplant. In comparison to the EU, the rate of transplants in Greece is very low.

According to www.statista.com “the rate of kidney transplants in Greece was the third lowest in Europe in 2021.” There were only two lung transplants in the whole of Greece in 2019 and according to Transplant Australia there were 171 lung transplants here in 2021.

Australia is now a global leader in organ donations and transplants, one which Greek government and medical institutions would do well to take note from.

Chrysoula’s story came to light during last year’s Conference of Greek Doctors and Bioscientists of the Diaspora held in Melbourne. She was born in Melbourne in the 1960s and her brother’s desire to study medicine in Greece involved the whole family moving back to Athens in the 1970s.

Chrysoula was 33 when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, “This marked the beginning of the ‘adventure’ with my health that lasted over 20 years,” she told Neos Kosmos.

“I overcame thyroid cancer, thanks to the remarkable medical team at the Evgenideio Clinic in Athens.”

Worse news

“I naturally thought that everything would be ok from now on,” Chrysoula says. It didn’t. In 2003 Chrysoula was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma which attacks the lymphatic system and a new round of treatments and hospital admissions began, and “all this as I became a mother,” she recalls.

“I beat the second cancer, but some of the drugs used in my chemotherapy to treat the lymphoma had serious side-effects on my lungs, so in May 2012, I was diagnosed with obstructive pulmonary disease,” Chrysoula says.

She could not breathe properly, she explains.

“I even told my child not to come near me, there wasn’t enough air, I just couldn’t breathe.”

“I was diagnosed with pulmonary arterial occlusive disease.”

The situation worsened, and the only solution was a lung transplant.

“After a discussion with my brother who is a doctor, we decided to apply for an assessment at the Alfred Hospital, in Melbourne.”

“As I was born in Australia, I had citizenship and this gave me the right to join the list for a transplant”, Chrysoula says.

Australia was a choice of life over death

As an Australian citizen and given the reputation Australia has for organ donations and transplants it was a simple choice.

In August 2017, with her brother, Chrysoula boarded a plane for Melbourne.

“The flight is long – at best, 21 hours from Athens – and it was challenging for someone with respiratory failure like me.”

“I needed specialised medical equipment so that I could have a constant supply of oxygen throughout the flight. My brother held my hand constantly, he was a beautiful companion on such a long journey”.

Chrysoula Skliros with her brother Dimitris. Photo: Supplied

Chrysoula was assessed at The Alfred by Professor Gregory Snell’s medical team, which performs an average of three lung transplants a week.

“Dr Snell’s experience in lung transplants, as well as the Australian culture of organ donation, allayed my fears over whether a transplant would be found quick enough, or if I was a suitable recipient, ” says Chrysoula.

On 12 October, 2017, she joined the national waiting list and only a week later, was notified that an organ had been found.

“Fear and joy became one, when I heard the news and on 6 November, 2017, I was in surgery.”

Trauma upon trauma

Under anesthesia Chrysoula suffered a cardiac arrest and for 45 seconds was without a heartbeat.

In the operating room. Photo: Supplied

“Surgeon Joshua Angelo De Bono climbed on top of me trying to resuscitate me, the doctors told me, when I woke up after several days of sedation in the hospital’s ICU.”

“Dr De Bono was stubbornly focused on keeping me alive, he shouted to everyone in the operating room that I had to stay alive, the CPR effort was so intense, one of my ribs fractured,” she says.

The eight-hour lung transplant operation was considered a success, but the next day Chrysoula was wheeled back into the operating theatre for another grueling six-hour procedure, as her new lungs had filled with blood, and needed draining, and her heart and kidneys presented with major problems.

The doctors decided to fit Chrysoula onto an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine – a cardiopulmonary bypass used to provide tissue oxygen delivery in patients with severe cardiac and/or respiratory failure.

“Complications during my hospitalisation meant I was at risk of having lower limb amputation due to poor blood circulation immediately after the transplant.”

“Fortunately, in the end it was a success, and today I feel grateful so grateful for the Australian health system and medical expertise, I was provided great care during my hospital stay and after.”

She adds that the support of her family “throughout this ordeal was critical.”

Five years on, there is light

It has been five years since Chrysoula’s lung transplant, and she is now awaiting her next medical evaluation, which she hopes will be her “ticket to return to Greece” to reunite with her family.

“Every four to six weeks I visit the hospital and undergo a medical check-up. So far everything is going well thanks to the rehabilitation program The Alfred has for those who have had a lung transplant.”

“My respiratory function is so good that I can dance!” she laughs.

Neos Kosmos asked if she wants to know about the donor who saved her life.

“When I am ready, I will write a letter to Transplant Australia in which I express my deepest gratitude to the family of the person, who gave me a second chance at life, and I hope they share it with the family of the deceased.”

For information on organ donations and transplants in Australia go to https://transplant.org.au

Chrysoula Skliros (right) with her parents Spyros and Anna. Photo: Supplied