Being told that a kidney he donated to a stranger was functioning well was like being told that he had “just had a child”, Nationalist MP Ivan Bartolo told this newspaper yesterday.

On Wednesday, the former Mosta mayor donated one of his kidneys in what has been described as a “noble and altruistic” gesture. His trip to hospital started two years ago during house visits, when Mr Bartolo, who fears “anything to do with hospitals” met the mother of a police superintendent in need of a kidney donor.

He immediately set off on a mission to look for a prospective donor, but months later decided to put his fears aside, and sign up for the donation himself.

I have a large phobia of needles, blood and anything to do with hospitals… I had never set foot in a hospital before

It transpired that the two were not a match, but the MP decided to go ahead and donate a kidney to another person, no matter who it may be.

MP Ivan Bartolo has donated a kidney. Photo: Jonathan BorgMP Ivan Bartolo has donated a kidney. Photo: Jonathan Borg

“When the surgery was done, and I was told that the kidney is functioning well, it felt like they had told me I had just had a baby. I cannot describe the sense of happiness that I felt at that moment. It was too beautiful to describe,” he said, recalling the experience.

Mr Bartolo has not tried to gain mileage from the experience and actually tried to keep the donation low-key. When a friend posted a note about the donation on his Facebook page on Sunday, Mr Bartolo asked him to remove it. He only told his relatives, employers and a few friends about it.

But unbeknown to him, while undergoing the intervention, tributes poured in on his social media page. He then decided to use the experience to raise awareness about the need of live organ donors – and also show the good side of politicians, who often make the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Still recovering in his hospital ward, the 47-year-old told this newspaper it all started during house visits in Mosta in 2015.

“I remember an emotional woman telling me that her son, a police superintendent, was waiting for a kidney transplant. So I started looking for a donor.

“I have a large phobia of needles, blood and anything to do with hospitals… I had never set foot in a hospital before.”

With the mother’s words still ringing in his ears, he travelled to Medjugorje, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in September of that same year.  There, he prayed for her son and bought him rosary beads.

Following this purchase, Mr Bartolo received a call from the superintendent, who at the time was also at a popular holy pilgrimage site – Lourdes, in France. Coincidentally, he had made a similar purchase.

“He told me that he had just bought me some rosary beads from Lourdes.”

This, and “other signs” kept Mr Bartolo thinking, and he finally decided to become the donor himself.

“I told him that I had found him a donor… but didn’t tell him that the donor was myself.”

The tests were a challenging ordeal for Mr Bartolo because of his fear of needles. Unfortunately for the superintendent, there was no match.

However, Mr Bartolo still wanted to go ahead with the donation.

Mr Bartolo said his spiritual background had taught him that “it is more blessed to give than to receive”.

Despite working for years within the social sector, he had never experienced the satisfaction he felt after giving someone a new lease on life through his kidney donation.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.