KUALA LUMPUR: The parents who consented to donate their 15-year-old son’s organs to save the lives of others are proud that their gesture has triggered public interest in organ donation.
They feel that bringing about a change in people's attitude towards organ donation was the greatest thing the boy had done.
For that, the boy’s father thanked the media for the coverage on the issue.
Dr Lela Yasmin Mansor, chief national transplant coordinator of the National Transplant Resource Centre (NTRC), said the father conveyed this message to the media through her.
She said that when the father signed the consent form to allow the organs of the teenager to be harvested, he requested anonymity and privacy to grieve.
However, despite transplant co-ordinators getting the Health Ministry to issue statements asking the media not to interview the family, pressmen visited the family house in Sitiawan, Perak, even before the boy’s funeral was over.
“Since his son’s fatal accident, the father had not slept and the paparazzi turned up and caused distress to the family.
“He needed time and space to grieve but the intense media attention caused the family to be more upset,” added Dr Lela, who coordinated the procurement of the organs on Oct 4.
Local folks who heard about it also started to visit the family with gifts.
The grief over the loss of his son and the mounting pressure on his family made the father to leave home for Pahang, just to escape attention, she said.
However, after days of news coverage over two cases of organ donations involving his son and another young man in Johor and about the extent the doctors went to save lives, the father began to understand the media pursuit – it was rare and a great thing for one to donate organs.
“He is no longer angry with the press,” said Dr Lela.
“He is happy that people have become more aware of the significance of organ donation,” she said.
This article was originally published in theStar Online.
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