In Vietnam, family donates organs of brain-dead man to save 7 lives

A representative of Thong Nhat Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City said on Monday that the institution, in collaboration with other units, had carried out the organ removal and transplant procedures.

The donor, N.H.N., was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday last week after suffering a severe traumatic brain injury, including cerebral hemorrhage and extensive brain damage.

He was unresponsive and fell into a deep coma.

Despite intensive resuscitation efforts, the patient could not recover.

After thorough discussions, his family made the courageous and compassionate decision to donate his organs.

A multidisciplinary medical council was formed to assess the patient’s condition.

After confirming brain death on Friday morning last week, Associate Professor Dr. Le Dinh Thanh, director of Thong Nhat Hospital, led a final professional consultation involving experts from the Vietnam National Coordinating Center for Human Organ Transplantation, 108 Military Central Hospital, Hue Central Hospital, and Children’s Hospital 2.

At 3:30 pm that same day, the organ retrieval surgery began. Seven organs were harvested and swiftly transported to various hospitals for transplantation.

These included two kidneys, which were transplanted into two patients at Thong Nhat Hospital, one heart and a partial liver, along with two corneas, delivered to Hue Central Hospital in central Vietnam for four patients, and a partial liver transplanted into a young patient at Children’s Hospital 2 in Ho Chi Minh City.