RIYADH: Minister of Commerce and Investment Dr. Majid Al-Qassabi has honored two of his employees who donated their kidneys to save the lives of two renal patients in Dammam and in Riyadh. Mahdi Al-Amri donated his kidney to his father while Mohammed Al-Saihati donated his to Safiyah, a six-year-old girl whom he had never known or met before. Speaking at a special ceremony at the ministry headquarters, Al-Qassabi commended the humanitarian gesture of his two officers. He said they have set an example for others, with a large number of people on the waiting list in the Kingdom for some organ transplant. The Saudi Center for Organ Transplant coordinates such donations between patients and hospitals in the Kingdom. Al-Amri said he was happy to see his father leading a normal life after the transplant. “I deemed it as filial duty and I am happy I have accomplished it,” he added. Speaking to Arab News, Al-Saihati said he was motivated to donate his kidney by a charity campaign launched by the Saihat Society for donations to those suffering from kidney failure through King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Dammam in collaboration with the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh. The donation came within a program called Reciprocal Donation Program, in which a person donates his organ to a patient whose body tissues match the donor’s. Al-Saihati said he originally wanted to donate his kidney to a woman but her tissues did not match his, which were matched with those of a six-year-old girl. The kidney donation operation was carried out on Nov. 27, 2017, he told Arab News.