Mohamed Zayd Khota has spent only eight years on earth and seven out of it was measured in hours on a machine and milliliters of water.
He was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure at just eight weeks old, so he didn’t know what it felt like to live carefree like other children.
The little boy from Lenasia, south of Johannesburg was born with two kidneys that failed early. When he was five months old, one of the kidneys was removed.
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The Boy on Dialysis and How He Lived
As reported by Sowetan, he started to live on home dialysis when he was one-and-a-half years old. Out of every 24 hours, Khota was on dialysis for 16 hours over the night, and three hours during the day.
His second kidney was removed when he was five years old.
He couldn’t go to school or play like other children. His fluid intake was rationed to 400-500ml per day; even soup intake was counted.
Khota only had a few sip of water at a time, no long time in the sun and up to 21 medications to keep him stable and alive.
For seven years, there were frequent hospital stays for fluid overload or extremely high blood pressure.
Khota’s mother, Furzanah Khota, became a nurse, technician, and constant guardian. She was in charge of setting up the dialysis machine, cleaning the equipment, monitoring it for infection, while she watched her son learn to read his own body.
The whole family had no choice but to adjust to Khota’s life. There were no fizzy drinks in the house, everyone drank water, because Khota couldn’t have them.
The Kidney Transplant that Changed Everything
For years, being a boy on dialysis meant he had to wait for a kidney transplant that could finally change his life. Khota was on the transplant waiting list for five years. There were several failed matches until in July 2025 when a living donor stepped forward.
It was an ABO-incompatible transplant (Mohamed is blood group O, the donor A), so extra preparation was needed. Then finally, it worked.
Today Khota is eight and free from the dialysis machine. He is in Grade 1 and can now experience ordinary childhood moments that once felt impossible. The boy on dialysis who once had his childhood measured in hours on a machine can ride a bicycle, swim and freely drink water.
His mother says she still sometimes wakes up at night hearing the dialysis machine in her head. On some other days she has the old fear flares: “Don’t do that.” Then she has to remind herself that Khota is fine and well.
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Kidney Disease in Africa
Health Data reports that in Africa, 90-100 million adults live with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Nigeria has the highest number of people living with CKD in Africa, with an estimated 16.1 million adults in 2023. Other large contributors include:
•Egypt- approximately 9.4 million people
•Ethiopia- approximately 5.8 million people
•Democratic Republic of the Congo- approximately 5.6 million people
Over the years, CKD has risen with an increase in population growth, age, diabetes, hypertension and other factors. However, access to care like dialysis or transplant remains very limited in supply across the continent.
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