We’ve seen this story many times; a Chinese gamer partakes in a gruelling marathon of internet gaming and then passes away. These stories rarely have a good ending, however for five people in Guangzhou, China, the untimely death of one young man means a new life.
Reported on Sunday by the New Express paper, 18 year-old Guo Quan had passed out after a 24-hour gaming session at a local Internet cafe in May. After several attempts to save his life, Guo ended up brain dead but alive on life support. Yesterday, his parents decided to pull the plug and donate his organs to people who needed it.
Guo had originally left his home in Yunnan province for work in neighbouring Guangdong province. Guo had received a job working at a shoe factory making shoes. During his time working at he shoe factory, Guo was introduced to Internet cafe’s and online games by a co-worker. In the process Guo started playing long sessions, often for 24 hours a day.
On May 19, Guo had finished a 24 hour session, as he was walking out of the net cafe, he collapsed and stopped breathing. Emergency systems arrived on the scene after passersby called dialed 120 (China’s 911). Unfortunately for Guo’s parents doctors weren’t able to resuscitate their son.
After learning that their son’s body could be used to save other patients, Guo’s parents decided to donate his organs to other patients in need. Guo’s kidneys, liver, and corneas were transplanted into five different patients in Guangzhou.
When asked why they did what they did, Guo’s father answered, “Our son died very young. It is very tragic that it happened, we hope that he can help renew someone else’s life.”
Organ donation in China is still in its infancy with the majority of donated organs being harvest organs of dead convicts. That’s not to say that there is no organ donation in China, there is. In an interview with the WHO in November of 2012, Dr. Wang Haibo, director of the China Organ Transplant Response System Research centre of the Ministry of Health said that China’s main issue with Organ donation is that the government system is still behind the times.
[18岁少年泡网吧一昼夜猝死 器官移植给5名病患] [Express News via People’s Daily]
Comments
3 responses to “Parents Donate Dead Son’s Organs To Save Other Patients”
What a gracious gift from the parents. A pity the child overdid it like this, but working in a sweat shop so we can wear cheap shoes is probably an awful life and no surprise he sought an outlet 🙁
911? Don’t you mean 000?
Our son died very young. It is very tragic that it happened, we hope that he can help renew someone else’s life.
You are right, the loss of any life is tragic for someone close to them, but here, let me fix that statement for you.
“Our son died very young. It is tragic that it happened, we feel very guilty for being terrible parents, not realising that he hadn’t been home in 24 hours, perhaps if we had paid more attention, we could have helped renew his life before our own laziness ended his”
Perhaps you should actually read the article before you start trying to be a stuck up ass hat? If you had read it, you would have seen he moved from his home province to another one quite far away to take on a job I’m sure you’d never even attempt in your life even if you were low on money, not to mention he probably never had as privileged a life as you in terms of education, internet access etc etc.
Stop acting all high and mighty until you actually read articles and know what you’re talking about.