12- year-old girl donates corneas after death

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According to Deputy Director of the National Transplantation and Transplantation Center Nguyen Hoang Phuc, the little brave girl had decided to donate her corneas to those in need before she lost her consciousness several days later.

Doctor Nguyen Huu Hoang – Director of the Eye Bank performing necessary operation on Van Nhi for later cornea donation.

On July 2, after Van Nhi's last breath in the arms of her family and doctors, her wish finally came true.

According to her mother, Nhi was found suffering from the rare disease of Papilloma when she was only 2 years old. The little girl had often been taken by her family to hospital.

Every month, Nhi had to go to hospital for treatment. In struggling against her disease, Nhi had proved to be a very strong-will girl for 10 years, and she also went to school and achieved good academic records.

On June 23, suffering from a high temperature and dyspnea, Nhi was again hospitalized for emergency treatment at the Vietnam National Children’s Hospital. Unfortunately, doctors said that she  might not have overcome the disease.

Van Nhi and her mother, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai Van.

Knowing about the child’s situation, her mother, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai Van, decided to talk to the brave girl about organ donation after death to save lives of others. Lying on the hospital’s bed and listening to her mother carefully, Nhi then smiled and agreed with her mom before losing her consciousness.

Van Nhi's mother was inspired by the story of another brave girl, Nguyen Hai An 7, from Hanoi’s Nam Tu Liem district, who, before passing away on a K Hospital sickbed, decided to give her cornea to needy patients.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phuc, as Van Nhi was under 18 years old, she could only donate her corneas although she wanted to donate more organs, according to Vietnam’s laws.

After Nhi’s death, Doctor Nguyen Huu Hoang – Director of the Eye Bank, came to perform a necessary operation on her for later cornea donation. He was deeply moved by the child’s bravery, saying that this donation would undoubtedly help the donated have a better and more significant life. He promised to transplant these donated corneas to patients in need as soon as possible.