MONDAY-17TH DECEMBER 2007-

Family among 35 who pledge to donate organs
KOTA KINABALU: Thirty-five persons, including a family of four, have pledged to donate their organs and tissues. The family from Inanam, Lam Cheng Min, 48, his wife Choi Kui Fong, 43, and their two sons - Lam Huat Kiat, 16, and Lam Hong Kiat, 20, yesterday filled up the organ donor pledge forms after the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation’s blood and organ donation campaign yesterday. Hong Kiat was one of the 125 people who donated blood at the campaign held at the premises of the Foundation in Likas from 9am to 3pm. “I want to donate my organs as they will be of no use to me when I am dead. It’s better for me to donate my organs to other people to save their lives,” Choi said when asked why she pledged to donate her organs. Her husband said that when a person donated his or her organs and tissues, he or she could save the lives of a number of people. “I would like to encourage people to make a pledge to donate their organs and tissues as it is also the ultimate humanitarian act of charity and benevolence,” Lam said. The couple also encouraged people to donate their blood to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH)’s blood bank. “By donating our blood, we can also save the lives of people,” said the couple who have donated blood 11 times but did not join yesterday’s campaign due to unavoidable reasons.
Brain dead patients can donate
Another organ donor pledger, Chen Mey Chung, a 51 year-old housewife, stressed the same reason for pledging to donate her organs and tissues. Chen said she was encouraged to donate her organs after seeing patients in Likas Hospital suffering from various illnesses such as Thalassaemia and cancer. “When I die, I wish to donate all my organs and tissues as long as they could be used,” Chen said, adding that she also encouraged her husband and her three children to make the same pledge to help other people. Meanwhile, Dr Lily Ng who gave a talk about the organs donation campaign, hoped that more people will make a similar pledge. “All teachings such as Islam, Christianity and Buddhism also encourage us to donate our organs and tissues,” said Lily who is the head of the anaesthesiology and intensive care department in the QEH. Lily also said that many people had died while waiting for organs for transplantation. “Until today, there are a few people who have donated their organs and tissues after their death and we need more organs and tissues for transplantation,” she said, adding the organ donor pledge forms could be obtained from the QEH. Dr Lily also said that if a person who is brain dead but his heart is still beating, his organs and tissues can be donated. If his heart is not beating, only his tissues can be donated. The commonly transplanted organs are kidney, heart, liver, lung and pancreas while the transplantable tissues are eye, bone, skin and heart valves. During the blood donation campaign, the foundation managed to collect 125 pints of blood. According to Connie Cheong, the coordinator of the campaign, 161 people actually turned up to donate their blood but only 36 were not allowed to do so. “We conduct a blood donation campaign once in every three months and our next campaign will be held on March 16, next year,” Connie said. Another 30 pints of blood were collected for the hospital’s blood bank at another blood donation campaign organized by the Che Sui Khor Uplifting Society yesterday.