Adnan and Zeljko. These two individuals are credited with prompting one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) entities to amend its transplantation law.
One lives in Mostar, while the other resides in Loznica, Serbia. The former is in urgent need of a new liver, and the latter wants to donate his.
Until recently, organ donors could only be relatives and spouses. The new law has allowed Zeljko to become Adnan’s donor.
Amendments to the law stipulate special conditions, with transplantation decisions to be made by a multidisciplinary expert team and an ethics committee. These bodies will include doctors, lawyers, and others, conducting physical and psychosocial assessments of donors.
“Match as if he were my son”
Adnan Semic has been suffering for years from Wilson’s disease, a condition caused by abnormal copper metabolism, and urgently needs a new liver.
Adnan’s entire family underwent testing, but none were compatible. Eventually, they made an appeal on social media. A Facebook post by Adnan’s cousin was seen by Zeljko Mihailovic from Loznica, Serbia.
Zeljko recounts that he came to Mostar three or four times for tests and “everything matched 1.000 percent as if he were my son.”
He is a regular blood donor in Serbia, where he has signed a donor card for all organs. He decided to do so after experiencing two tragedies in which his father and then his mother died in separate traffic accidents in front of their house.
“The law has been changed, at least for someone. Will it be too late for Adnan? Only God knows. Doctors have been doing everything for three weeks to keep him alive, but they are not omnipotent. The question is whether Adnan can withstand the operation in his current state,” says Adnan’s uncle, Adem Gacanica.
The sick young man’s family is in constant contact with two teams from Croatia and Turkey who would come to BiH to transplant part of Zeljko’s liver to Adnan if he can endure the surgery.
“I cannot understand why they waited until the last moment. Now the state has awakened and is changing the law. I am in constant contact with Adnan’s family. I will come whenever and wherever needed if the operation can be performed,” says Zeljko.
