LEGENDARY RUGBY PLAYER Jonah Lomu will need a second kidney transplant and intensive dialysis in order to survive.
The 36-year-old is 30kg lighter than when he appeared at the World Cup back in September.
And following reports that he was back in hospital in October, it has now been confirmed that his organ – donated to him by radio host Grant Kereama eight years ago – has failed.
Speaking to New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, the former star said:
“We were hoping to see some improvement but nothing has made any difference, so the next step is to try to find a donor.”
Lomu added that he requires up to seven hours of dialysis, three nights a week.
Kidney Health New Zealand education manager Carmel Gregan-Ford said that it would be difficult for Lomu to get a second transplant, as he now needed more antibodies than for the first transplant.
However, she pointed to to other cases in which people had had up to three transplants, and was optimistic that Lomu would receive similar successful treatment.
