Guangdong donors give the gift of life

A 17-year-old girl's liver, two kidneys and two corneas were transplanted after her death to save others' lives at the General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command in Guangdong province on Thursday evening.

The liver surgery was jointly conducted by Huang Jiefu, vice-minister of health, and Huo Feng, a senior surgeon at the hospital.

Nurses pay homage to Wu Huajing, who agreed to donate her organs after a traffic accident from which she later died, before transplant surgery on Thursday evening at the General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command in Guangdong province. [Photo/China Daily]

Wu Huajing, the organ donor, was a student from Shaoguan College of Medical Science. She had been in critical condition since she was seriously injured in a traffic accident in Shaoguan on November 9. Wu was declared dead on Wednesday afternoon. Her organs were removed on Thursday afternoon.

Before she died, Wu told her parents of her wish to donate her organs to help others and repay society.

"Wu's liver was successfully transplanted to a 41-year-old man from a local property management company. The man has had liver cancer for years and has been in very poor condition", Huo Feng said at a news conference on Thursday night.

But Huo did not reveal details of the patients who received Wu's kidneys and corneas.

Vice-Minister Huang said he was deeply moved by Wu's gift.

"I think Wu would have been happy if she had known her organs have helped save others' lives," Huang said.

On Wednesday morning, Huang also acted as the operating surgeon for a 52-year-old woman surnamed Zhang who donated her liver, kidneys and corneas after she died of cerebral hemorrhage in Guangzhou.

Zhang's liver was transplanted to a man of a similar age. The man who had cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer has waited for a liver transplant for more than two months.

Zhang's two kidneys were transplanted to another man and a woman, both in their 30s, who had urinaemia and had been on the hospital's waiting list for kidney transplants for many years.

Zhang's corneas were transplanted to a 5-month-old child from Zhuhai and a 65-year-old man from Shenzhen.

"Zhang's donation has helped save three lives and helped another two people recover their sight," Huang told media after the operations at the No 3 Hospital Affiliated to Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou on Wednesday.

Huang said he paid homage the organ donor Zhang before starting the transplant operation.

Huang is a well-known expert in liver transplants.

China has become the second-largest country in terms of organ transplants, Huang said.

Since the country introduced a posthumous organ donation system in March 2010, China has completed organ transplant surgeries for 465 organ donors in 38 designated hospitals across the nation from March 2, 2010, to September 30.

The system was jointly implemented by the Red Cross Society of China and the Ministry of Health. It is aimed at encouraging more people to donate their organs after death to help people in need.

A total of 1,279 organs have been donated for life-saving purposes in the past two and a half years, Huang said. Of the organ donors, more than 120 came from Guangdong.

China's reliance on organ transplants from condemned prisoners will end within two years as the donation system is proving successful, Huang said.