Man donates Kidney, Gets Unexpected Reward

When an unemployed Saudi man took pity and gave a lift to a visibly distraught and tired old woman, little did he know that it would change his life for the better.

Fahd Al Raboud Al Shammari had been struggling to find a job for two years when he chanced upon an elderly lady on the road, trying to catch a taxi in vain. Noticing how tired she looked, he decided to give the woman a lift. When he asked her where she was headed, she suddenly broke down in tears.

It turns out that the woman’s only son was in the hospital and needed to undergo dialysis daily. She was a widow and was worried that her son might not get the treatment that day as she was late in getting to the hospital to make the payment. She also could not find a kidney donor, much less buy a kidney from sources abroad.

Without a doubt, Shammari knew what he had to do. He went to the hospital the next day, underwent lab tests, and when results showed that he was eligible, he promptly donated his kidney to the ill 14-year-old.

When Prince Mutab bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, a member of the Royal Family and Saudi Minister of National Guards, found out about the heroic act, he immediately called Shammari at the hospital to personally commend him. The Prince also issued instructions to give Shammari a post in the National Guard.

“I am very happy for the Prince’s call and his decision to appoint me in the National Guard….what I have done was a turning point in my life…” Sabq, an Arabic language newspaper, quotes Shammari.

Meanwhile, when the elderly widow met Shammari a second time, she “immediately recognized him and her eyes were full of tears again… she said she could not thank him enough but he told her he only wants God’s mercy.”