22.07.2026 13:01
Zübeyde Tarar and Özgür Tarar, who were undergoing treatment for kidney failure, met at a dialysis center in Fethiye and got married within 3 weeks. Supporting each other through their struggle, the couple regained their health with cadaveric kidney transplants performed two years apart. Now they dream of traveling with a caravan.
Zübeyde Tarar (46), who was receiving treatment for kidney failure in Ankara, met Özgür Tarar (42), who was fighting the same disease at a dialysis center in Fethiye, Muğla, where she went on vacation, and they got married. After getting married, the couple continued their fight against the disease by supporting each other, and they overcame the illness with a cadaveric kidney transplant two years apart.
THEY MET AND FELL IN LOVE IN DIALYSIS Zübeyde Tarar, who had been battling kidney failure for 17 years, met Özgür Tarar, who was fighting the same disease, at a dialysis center in Fethiye, Muğla, where she went on vacation in 2018. Zübeyde and Özgür fell in love and got married within 3 weeks. After marriage, the couple moved to Ankara and continued their fight against the disease by supporting each other at Bilkent City Hospital. A kidney transplant was recommended for the couple, and both were placed on the emergency list. The couple, who had to undergo dialysis for 4 hours 3 days a week and even plan their vacations and travels according to the dialysis schedule, overcame the disease with transplants performed two years apart.
Zübeyde Tarar regained her health in 2024, and Özgür Tarar on June 30, 2026, through cadaveric kidney transplants at Bilkent City Hospital. Throughout their marriage, the Tarar couple reminded each other about medication times, drinking water, and walking; now they dream of traveling with a caravan without being dependent on dialysis.
THEY FOUGHT THE DISEASE TOGETHER Özgür Tarar, stating that he underwent dialysis treatment for 14 years and met and married his wife at the dialysis center, said, "Then we fought the disease together. I was placed on the transplant list 8 years ago. My wife was actually not very hopeful that it would come for her. Then, on their first call, it came for my wife. After that, I kept saying 'it won't come, it won't come, it won't come.' But it came for me too. I had a transplant 3 weeks ago. If people donate their organs, they give hope to those lying in dialysis. I wish everyone would donate, be like them. I haven't been on dialysis for 3 weeks. That's the best part. My wife and I share everything. Our disease is common. So we got along very well. Let our people donate their organs. I consulted my doctors. I thought I might not be able to donate my organs because of such a disease. It turns out we can donate some of our organs. I will donate myself. My actual birth date is May 24, but I plan to celebrate June 30, the day I had the kidney transplant, as my second birthday. Because with my wife's support, I feel reborn."
"I'M GLAD I GOT MARRIED" Zübeyde Tarar, stating that she met her husband at a dialysis center in Fethiye while on vacation, said, "Our beds were close; we talked, chatted, and got married. Since we are generally in the same situation, we can understand each other more easily. I always told my husband 'I've had a transplant, you will too.' It happened, thank God. And we have very beautiful dreams. We will realize them. We can go on a long vacation together. We can do things we couldn't do. We couldn't go anywhere due to dialysis. Our biggest dream is a caravan vacation. It was very troublesome. We had to arrange dialysis everywhere we went. So now that we've had transplants, since there's no need for dialysis anymore, we can go anywhere we want healthily. Of course, we need to pay attention to everything in this process. Now we remind each other about our medications, water, and walks. We go for walks together. I'm glad he exists, I love him very much. I'm glad I got married. I'm glad we are facing this life together. In good times and bad, we are always together. My husband has always been by my side. I will always be by his side. I love my husband very much. I'm glad we continued this life together."
OVER 30 THOUSAND PATIENTS ARE WAITING FOR TRANSPLANTS Bilkent City Hospital Kidney Transplant Deputy Director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yusuf Kasap said, "In our country, over 30 thousand patients are on the waiting list for organ transplants. A large portion of these are patients waiting for kidney transplants. Studies and workshops on cadaveric transplants are increasing over time. Many projects are also being developed at the ministry level. The process of organ donation via e-Government has started recently. We hope to get positive results from these. Of course, we want to perform most, actually all, transplants from cadavers. We do not want to use a living donor, put them at surgical risk, and leave them with one kidney."