This week there is the annual organ donation week in Sweden.
Jenny Strömstedt, the host at TV4's Nyhetsmorgon, interviewed Daniel in Haga Palace last Sunday. This exclusive interview was shown at TV4's News morning today.
The interview
Prins Daniel fick njure av sin pappa_ ”Jag fick ett nytt liv – är honom evigt tacksam”
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Daniel tells that he went on dialysis before the surgery. He tells also that he was in the hospital three to five times a week for a few hours to deliver the fluid that accumulated in his body. Now he eats medicine every day.
- For me it was only a short period, but imagine having it in that way for several years.
- In the spring I followed closely with a friend whose child needed an organ, and it was only a few days from that the little child was no longer with us. I want you to understand that it can hit me or someone I care about tomorrow.
- What could be nicer than leaving your life and having saved up to eight people's lives? I just think of all these frustrated parents whose children are about to fade away. Should I myself want to receive an organ if needed, I should be willing to give, he says
Prins Daniels starka ord i TV4 – berättar om sjukdomen _ Svensk Dam
Daniel told at the interview also, he doesn't really worry that much for the future. If this kidney would stop working, then he has to deal with it then. He told that he has both friends and family members who are willing to donate an organ to him.
Prince Daniel's concern for the future - tells of the serious illness
This year, it is ten years since Prince Daniel, 46, underwent an organ transplant and got a kidney from his father Olle Westling, 74. In an open-ended interview with Jenny Strömstedt, which was shown on Friday morning in TV4's News Morning, the prince told about the time before, during and after his severe kidney surgery.
In the interview, Prince Daniel tells that the time before he got his dad's kidney was risky.
- Kidney disease, it sneaks up. Slowly but surely, so you do not really notice that you are ill until you become really ill.
Since Prince Daniel got his kidney from a living donor - Dad Olle - the Prince tells that the operation was planned before. But just a few weeks before it was time, Daniel's condition deteriorated and now he says that the surgery could have been needed at an earlier stage.
- Maybe we could have done it a few weeks before, because I got pretty sick and got dialysis a few weeks before.
Daniel explains that he had absorbed a lot of fluid that needed to be extracted via dialysis three to five times a week for a number of hours at each occasion.
- For me, it was only a short period, but think of the person who is waiting for a body for several years that must run it in order to survive at all, says Prince Daniel reflecting in the interview.
Prince Daniel on future concerns
After the successful kidney transplant, Prince Daniel says that as soon as he woke up he "felt infinitely better"
- It's a bit like color becomes life again, and you see color instead of just gray, explains Prince Daniel.
Today, the prince continues to feel good, but says he will eat medicine for the rest of his life. A medicine that is necessary - but at the same time harmful to the kidney. But research is moving forward and Daniel says that today's medicine is gentler to the kidney than it was before.
During the interview, Jenny Strömstedt asks if the prince is worried about the future given his kidney disease and Prince Daniel shares his thoughts:
- You can sometimes think: "How long does this kidney last? Will it last a lifetime? Prince Daniel asks, continuing:
- But I don't really worry that much. If it should happen that way in the future, then I have to deal with it then. I have both friends and family members who are willing to give.
Prince Daniel says that after his illness and kidney transplant, he was given a greater humility for life and its adversities. He also sends a greeting to the people who are currently in the queue for an organ transplant.
- I really hope that everyone who is waiting for a new organ ... that you do not stand in vain. That we, yes the whole community, do everything we can to improve the routines and that all of us who are prepared to receive an organ, that we are also prepared to give, says Prince Daniel and sends an emotional call to everyone watching:
- So let's all enroll in the donation register and be a part of saving other people's lives.
Prins Daniels ord i TV4 om svåra njursjukdomen _ Hänt.se
Daniel and Jenny Strömstedt
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4ao3jdDj51/
Nice to see - and good that Estelle was there too. This is a very topical issue so it's great to see Victoria involving her children.
