Hospital launches park in appreciation of organ donros, Taipei

Focus Taiwan

Taipei Veteran General Hospital inaugurated an outdoor memorial park Saturday in appreciation of organ and tissue donors for the hospital.

Hospital Superintendent Lin Fang-yu said at the ceremony to mark the launch of the park that the hospital used to list the names of the donors on a wall at one corner of the lobby of the Chungcheng building.

But with the number of organ and tissue donors reaching 387 over the years, the space on the original wall ran out, Lin said.

"We've inaugurated the memorial park to allow the recipients to express their appreciation and to memorialize them, as well as increase the public's awareness of organ donation," Lin said.

Now the names of the donors are engraved on leaves of a jiaji ceramics tree.

The memorial park will also set up a digital guiding system which will keep the historical record of all donors.

The hospital wants to ask family members of the donors to provide the donors' life stories so that they can be displayed on site. They hope this feature will allow park visitors to get to know the contributions of these donors to society. It can also serve as a symbol of blessing, love, and good will between donors and recipients.

Because many patients are waiting for organ donations, Lin also urged the public to respond to an organ donation drive.

Family members of donors and recipients were invited to attend the ceremony Saturday. Among them were the parents of a 19-year-old college student surnamed Chan.

Chan had a motorcycle accident in March and died later. His parents decided to donate their son's heart, liver, kidney and pancreas at the last minute.

Chan's mother said a lawsuit against the perpetrator of the accident is still going on, and she still misses her son a lot, but she was gratified that four people's lives were extended because of her son's donation. (By Lung