Saudi kidney donor gets National Guard job

An unemployed Saudi man who donated a kidney to an ill 14-year-old boy after seeing his mother's tears was rewarded by a member of the royal family with a job in the National Guards, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

Saudi Minister of National Guards Prince Mutab bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz called  Fahd Al Raboud Al Shammari at hospital in the capital Riyadh to "wish him good health and thank him for his noble act," the Arabic language daily Sabq said.

"The Prince also gave instructions to appoint Shammari in the National Guards immediately," the paper said.

It quoted Shammari as saying: "I am very happy for the Prince’s call and his decision to appoint me in the National Guard….what I have done was a turning point in my life…I am really delighted to have a job after I tried in vain to find work for over two years."

Shammari was driving back home in the northwestern Saudi town of Hail when he saw an old woman looking tired and struggling to get a taxi.

Offering her a lift, he let her into his car and asked her where she was going before noticing tears in her eyes.

The woman told him that she is a widow and that her only son Mohammed Al Shammari is ill and needs dialysis every day. She said she was worried as her son may not have dialysis that day because she was late to come to hospital and pay.

"The woman said she is struggling to get funds for daily dialysis after she could not find a kidney donor...she also said she could not afford buying a kidney from abroad," the Saudi Arabic language daily Sabq said.

"After giving her a lift, Fahd went to the hospital on the next day and offered his kidney for the boy...tests showed that he is eligible to donate….when the woman met the donor, she immediately recognized him and her eyes were full of tears again…she said she could not thank him enough but he told her he only wants God's mercy."

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