The love a child leaves behind and the mother's actions

"Your shadow is still here somewhere"

Six years ago, the touching story of 7-year-old Hai An donating her corneas after passing away due to a serious illness moved many people. Young mother Nguyen Tran Thuy Duong was in pain from losing her little daughter, but her eyes always showed pride whenever someone mentioned Hai An.

Ms. Thuy Duong promoted and encouraged people to donate corneas to save lives after passing away.

"With one hand, I give back the light from my child's eyes to help people. It is also the love my child gives back to life," Ms. Thuy Duong shared.

For Ms. Duong, even though Hai An has passed away, she always feels her child's presence by her side in the most special way.

"My daughter's cornea donation has helped two other people regain their sight, which is extremely meaningful. Both have recovered well, one has been able to return to work, and the other is more confident in daily life. I feel like Hai An is always by my side. That is the motivation for me to overcome difficulties and continue living," Ms. Duong confided.

According to Ms. Duong, after Hai An donated her cornea, besides the gratitude of many people, she had to face no small amount of pressure: "There were times when I felt lost and lonely amidst the noise of public opinion."

Not allowing herself to be immersed in loss and loneliness, she told herself: "Hai An wants me to continue living and spreading love. Therefore, I have tried to overcome all difficulties and continue my work to promote organ donation. I want to help more people, so that stories like Hai An's are no longer isolated."

Overcoming obstacles

Currently, Ms. Thuy Duong is involved in the work of promoting tissue, organ and cornea donation at the Tissue Bank, Hanoi Eye Hospital 2. According to her, the work not only helps save many lives but is also a way for her to continue the story of her daughter Hai An, inspiring and spreading compassion to the community.

The noble act of Hai An and Thuy Duong has moved many people. Since then, a movement to donate organs and corneas has spread throughout the country, the number of people registering and donating organs has increased rapidly.

Overcoming the pain, Thuy Duong strongly moved forward with her choice even though she knew that the journey was not easy to change society's prejudices about donating tissues, organs, and corneas to save lives.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang, Director of Central Eye Bank

Few people can imagine that she and her colleagues have to run around all regions to carry out campaigns and propaganda so that people understand and voluntarily register to donate organs and corneas after death. The nights of traveling to reach corneal donors but having to return empty-handed did not discourage her.

With cancer under control, Ms. Duong always believes that this job is not only a career but also a mission, helping her find comfort and faith in life, turning personal pain into hope for many others.

Ms. Duong always remembers the patient who had just entered her twenties and was gradually losing her vision due to keratoconus. "Her family was in despair, but thanks to a cornea donated by a stranger, she was able to see again. The day I witnessed the smiles and tears of happiness of her and her family after the successful surgery, I realized that all the efforts and difficulties were worth it," she confided.

Sharing with us a letter from a patient who had received a cornea transplant, she sent her thanks to the corneas of a stranger in the faraway United States, in which she wrote: "The gift that the donor's wish gave has brought light and new opportunities to my life... so that I can see the world around me with new eyes."

Ms. Duong said that their confidences added motivation to her and her colleagues' journey of promoting cornea donation.

"Although the concept of organ and cornea donation is now more open, it is still a long journey filled with many difficulties. We will continue to make efforts so that more patients will be saved thanks to the kindness of organ donors, which is also what our little daughter Hai An always wishes for," she confided.

Baby Nguyen Hai An passed away on February 22, 2018 after about 5 months of fighting a rare form of cancer. The story of her agreeing to donate her corneas before passing away, giving light to others, touched millions of hearts.

In just the next two months, about 2,000 people came to the Center to register to donate organs after death. This is a record number of people registering in a two-month period since the center was established. The two people who received Hai An's corneas were a 73-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/tinh-yeu-con-gui-lai-va-nghia-cu-cua-nguoi-me-192241101103626181.htm