Heart donor's dad says:
It was as if I had killed my own son
THE man's son lay on the hospital bed, brain dead after a traffic accident last Wednesday.
It was just a day after Chin Yoon Keong had turned 20.
Although initially in two minds about donating his son's organs, Mr Chin Pak Siong, 49, knew that it was something he had to do.
Because showing on the hospital TV was a report about Malaysian girl Tee Hui Yi, 14,whose body had rejected a transplanted heart.
On Thursday, Mr Chin, who owns a motorcycle repair shop, signed a written consent for the hospital to switch off his son's life support machine.
He also donated his son's heart, kidneys and liver, reported Sin Chew Daily.
Hui Yi had the heart transplant on Friday and is said to be recovering.
For the Chin family, the decision was a painful one.
Said Mr Chin: 'Although my son is braindead, his heart was still beating. Still, I gave written consent to let them shut down the life support machine.
'I felt very cruel. I felt guilty. It was as if I had killed my son with my own hands.
'I had made the decision for him. It was not an instruction he had left behind before hisaccident.'
The couple had earlier hoped that Yoon Keong might regain consciousness.
While at his son's bedside, Mr Chin had refused to eat or sleep and had even fainted, reported Sin Chew Daily.
Before Mr Chin signed the form, his wife sat beside their son's body and whispered into his ear: 'You don't belong to this world already. The best thing to do now is to donate your organs so that another person may live.'
The couple wept inconsolably when they saw his body for the last time at the wake on Saturday. They have two younger sons.
After the donation was reported, anonymous callers, claiming to be nurses, rang Mr Chin's phone and expressed their appreciation for the act.
Mr Chin said that their family would be praying hard for Hui Yi's recovery, reported The Star.
'I hope she can live on, happy and healthy,' he said.
Said his wife: 'I hope (she will) have a good future.'
She also said she hopes to meet Hui Yi one day, adding: 'It would feel (as if I'm) seeing my son.'
Hui Yi's family said they would take her to visit the Chins once she is given clearance from the hospital.
Said her mother, Dina Bato Sam Bua, 46: 'Although they have lost their son, they can treat Hui Yi as their daughter.'
source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...44279,00.html? 
