INTERNATIONAL ORGAN DONATION AWARENESS - KOREA

Paramedic’s organs donated to six patients

Source: Korea Herald

A young woman in her early 20s who had been killed in a traffic accident had her organs donated to six patients.

Chonbuk National University Hospital said Nov. 2 that it took the heart, liver, cornea and other organs of Oh Hye-jung, 22, of Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, and used them to treat six patients in Seoul and Jeonju, including one suffering from chronic kidney problems.

The donor, a graduate from Jeonju Kijeon College in Jeonju, worked as a paramedic at a hospital in nearby Gimje. She was involved in a car accident on Oct. 27. She fell into a coma, and was taken to Chonbuk National University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

She had lived with her widowed mother and a younger brother. Her family made the hard decision to donate her organs to patients with chronic diseases.

“I made up my mind to donate Hye-Jung’s organs, with a belief that she must be happy in heaven to give hope to others through organ donation,” her mother, Cho Jeom-rae, told reporters.

(swchun@heraldm.com)