KUALA LUMPUR: The recent case of two young people donating their hearts to let 14-year-old Tee Hui Yi and many others have another chance to live have unleashed a wave of interest and support for organ donation.
Chief national transplant co-ordinator of the National Transplant Resource Centre (NTRC) Dr Lela Yasmin Mansor said the effect of Hui Yi's case was like “a tsunami that crushed the wall of resistance.”
Dr Lela said prior to this, various organ donation campaigns, talks, seminars and exhibitions seemed to make little headway.
“It was like us hitting our heads against the wall,” she said yesterday.
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Saving lives: National Transplant Resource Centre Transplant Coordinator K. Santi explaining to sales executive Adeline Sim about organ donation at the Gerakan National Delegates Conference 2007 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
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Hui Yi's story captured the country's attention when she waited more than a year for a heart transplant.
She received a heart from a 15-year-old donor from Sitiawan on Thursday but her body rejected the organ.
Her life was saved when a second heart came a day later from 20-year-old mechanic Chin Yoon Keong from Kulai who died after a road accident.
Dr Lela said the huge momentum, which had built up after Hui Yi’s case was highlighted, had brought in many enquiries and even immediate pledges to donate organs.
“I used to be disheartened but now, I can tell you I am very encouraged now,” she said.
Dr Lela pointed out to a few very significant developments to prove her point.
She said all mufti and the Religious Development Department issued statements to support the cause.
There were also many people who related stories about how Hui Yi's story had affected them.
A letter to The Star from the Chukai Central Lions Club in Kemaman said it staged an organ pledge campaign on Friday and managed to get 43 signed pledges within a span of two and a half hours.
With the increasing interest in the topic, Dr Lela said she hoped this could give a new push to voluntary groups to help with the organ donation campaign.
Right now, the NTRC has six staff who have to enter pledges data, man organ donation campaign booths on weekends, coordinate donor calls and even train staff in hospitals about organ donation.
Public Education Committee on organ donation chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the process of donating organs should be made easier.
Pledges, he said, could be stated in a person's Mykad or driving licence.
It has been reported that a total of 108,000 people have pledged their organs so far. However, the number of actual donors from 1976 till now is less than 200 people.
This article was originally published in theStar Online.
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