Mr Gendler pictured above before transplant (left) and after the operation (R)
A Russian man given a liver transplant by an African-American donor has claimed the operation is turning his skin black.
Semen Gendler (yes, that is his first name), from Krasnodar, south-west Russia, urgently needed the transplant after being diagnosed with hepatitis C and cancer.
Doctors said his only hope was a liver transplant, and after contacting business partners in the USA, Mr Gendler flew there for the life-saving operation.
He was given the liver of an unnamed, 38-year-old African-American man for the transplant, which reportedly cost him around £325,000.
Reports claimed Mr Gendler obtained a liver transplant after paying the large sum in the US, where the operations can be agreed more quickly than in Russia.
Mr Gendler said the transplant initially gave him ‘a new lease of life’, but was then told by a work colleague that his skin ‘seemed to be changing colour’.
His colleague Igor Atamanenko said: “I noticed that his skin was getting darker. When he told me they had given him the liver of an African-American man, I guess that was probably the reason for the colour change.
“I have known my friend for years and he has always been if anything extremely pale, and now for the first time ever he is becoming dark skinned.”
On the flip side, 65-year-old Semen Gendler says that, although his condition is weird, he is not in the least bothered about being a few shades darker than his former self. Not when he is now hepatitis C- and cancer-free and has many happy years to look forward to.
He said: “I could end up much darker than this to be honest, I don’t care. The main thing is that the liver works and I am healthy. It’s incredible, I am now so full of energy and living between two cities in New York and Krasnodar and if my skin ends up dark who cares, I certainly don’t.”
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