TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A man in Yunlin fell into a coma due to a brain stem hemorrhaging, with family members carrying out his final wish of donating his organs to benefit 20 people awaiting transplants, per BCC.
On Lunar New Year's Eve (January 21), Taichung Veterans Hospital's general manager mobilized more than 100 surgeons and medical staff to perform surgery in shifts, lasting for more than 20 hours. Doctors quickly removed vital organs and carried out nearby transplant surgery for organs such as the liver, heart, kidney, cornea and skin tissue.
The donor, surnamed Lin (林), felt unwell in the early hours of Lunar New Year’s Eve. He asked his family to take him to the hospital, but lost vital signs while being transported in an ambulance to National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin Branch.
An emergency examination found brain stem hemorrhage, with a poor prognosis for survival.
His family was deeply saddened and hoped to help Lin give back to society, making the immediate decision to donate his organs. After receiving the news, the Taichung Veterans General Hospital started preparations, and on the afternoon of the first day of the Lunar New Year, accepted Lin into the intensive care unit of the hospital to receive pre-donation care.
After two evaluations, Mr. Lin was pronounced brain dead. Medical staff of the Taichung Veterans General Transplantation Team, including cardiac surgery, general surgery, urology, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, and anesthesia, began marathon organ donation and transplantation operations from 10 a.m. on the second day of the Lunar New Year and continued through to the early morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year.
In the end, liver, heart, kidney, cornea, and skin tissue transplants were all completed successfully, benefiting 20 patients. Many doctors and nurses gave up their vacation time with families over the Lunar New Year without complaint to undertake this special operation, according to Director of Surgery at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Chou Chia-man (周佳滿).
She said that cooperation with the Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen Medical University allowed for the mobilization of no less than 100 doctors and nurses, and four operating rooms to perform organ transplants simultaneously.
Nearly 100 phone calls were made by the organ transplant coordinator of Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Feng Yajun (馮雅筠). During the process of coordinating and communicating with suitable recipients, they hesitated due to the inconvenience posed by Lunar New Year.
Still, she complimented the donor who traveled from Yunlin to Taichung to make this life-saving donation to help others during this holiday period, potentially giving more people a chance to live a better life.
