Brain-dead boy dies after mother donates his organs to save others
Posted: 05/21/2012 7:00 amOn Mother’s Day this year a mom donated the organs of her son, who had become brain-dead after a traffic accident in January, to Zhongshan University Hospital. Five people were saved as a result of the mother’s decision. Yuan Dezhen, 40, decided to let her son die after he had been on life support since the accident.
A patient, identified as Mr Zhang, said the donated organs had helped him recover, and he was getting better every day. Zhang expressed gratitude to Yuan, describing her as a “great hero”.
Yuan told a television station that she wished the patients luck in fully recovering. “Even though my child is no longer with me, I feel their survival means he is still living in this world,” she said.
Netizens have praised Yuan’s actions. Sina Weibo user Huanle Zhanyan described it as “selfless motherliness.” Another, Jizou Laola, wished good luck to the patients who had benefited from the donated organs.
The body of the 11 year-old boy, Tian Gan, has been donated to Shenzhen University Medical School.
It is the country’s first case of multiple organs being donated from a child to an adult.
