Dr Nguyen Duc Long, director of Saint Paul Hospital, on August 24, said the hospital carried out two transplant surgeries on two patients with kidneys donated by a dead-brain man, N.D.T, 32, from Dong Anh district, Hanoi.

The two patients have recovered fully and no longer have to rely on dialysis. Besides the two kidneys, other organs from the brain-dead man were used to rescue other patients.

T’s heart was transplanted in a man at the HCM City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital. His liver was transplanted in a patient at Viet Duc Hospital, while his two corneas were used by the Military Hospital 108.

After two weeks, all six organ recipients recovered well with very good post-transplantation indexes.

According to Long, hundreds of surgeons and medical workers from many hospitals took part in the process of taking and transplanting the organs. They did not know each other, but they were connected through the lofty task of saving lives.

Long said the time that moved the director the most was 9pm on August 24. It was raining heavily in Hanoi. At Saint Paul Hospital, hundreds of people, including medical workers, inpatients and relatives, and family members of the brain-dead man stood in two rows, bowing their heads in gratitude, saying goodbye to the man's heart which was later carried to the south and transplanted in another patient. 

“All the people present there could not hold back their tears,” Long said.

Dinh Thi Thu Nga, a nurse at Saint Paul Hospital, said she would never forget the meeting with H, 30, the wife of the organ donor, on the morning of August 23.

Nga and the woman talked with each other for a long time before Nga began talking about the human value of organ donations to save lives.

The young wife said she needed to discuss with family members about organ donation.

On August 23 afternoon, the young wife informed the hospital about the family’s decision to donate all the organs of her dead husband.

“The young wife told me that she wanted her children to take pride in their father,” Nga recalled. 

Nga added that she felt great admiration for the young wife who, while facing the pain of losing her husband, made a humane decision.

Phuong Thuy