Vociferous mayor of Porto Rui Moreira is keeping quiet about a “personal matter” that has seen his socialite wife Cristina donating a kidney to their youngest son, David, aged 21.
But David has shared the moment on Facebook, publishing a photograph of the pair holding hands across hospital beds less than 24-hours after the life-saving operation.
“Me and my darling mother who battled against a lot of fear and pain to change my life,” he wrote. “It is a moment that I would have liked to have filmed, but will be with me for the rest of my life.”
It is an uplifting story of mother love and hope for a better future, and took place at Porto’s Santo António Hospital – one of the country’s few transplant centres.
David, diagnosed with renal failure when he was 19, has lived the last three years with only 15% of kidney function, say news reports.
His father – the often outspoken Independent Mayor (supported by the CDS-PP) – also suffers from kidney problems, but it was his mother, former nightclub owner Cristina Ferreira who was found to be suitably compatible with David to become a donor.
Despite being married to Rui Moreira, Cristina Ferreira is being described as being “more famous”, particularly as she is the granddaughter of Luiz Ferreira, the well-known Porto jeweller whose VIP clients included former Spanish king Juan Carlos and Jacqueline Onassis.
