Hong Kong appeals for heart-lung donor to save critically ill 13-year-old girl

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority has issued an urgent appeal for a heart and lung donation to save a critically ill 13-year-old girl.The patient, Ching Ching, suffers from pulmonary hypertension and heart failure.She is currently being kept alive at Hong Kong Children’s Hospital with the support of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO machine, commonly known as an artificial heart-lung machine.A Hospital Authority spokesperson said she required an immediate heart-lung transplant to survive.The girl has an O-positive blood type and her condition is critical.Doctors warn that without a transplant she faces imminent risks of arrhythmia, brain haemorrhage, stroke, infection, and multi-organ failure.“For critically ill patients with organ failure, a transplant is often the only hope for extending life,” a spokesman for the authority said on Tuesday.Last year, 76 patients under the Hospital Authority were placed on the waiting list for a heart transplant, while 21 were waiting for a lung. Photo: May TseThe girl, who weighs just 25kg (55.1 pounds), has been placed on the official heart and lung transplant waiting list and currently ranks first among patients of a similar body size.In response to a desperate plea from her parents, the authority is urging the public to support organ donation and consider donating the organs of deceased relatives.The authority said it would also seek assistance from mainland China through cross-boundary procedures as soon as possible.Under the existing mutual assistance mechanism, organs can be matched and allocated to Hong Kong if a deceased donor on the mainland has no suitable match locally, bringing a vital lifeline to critically ill patients.Further ReadingThe authority has appealed to the public to extend compassion, support and care to those still fighting for their lives.Hong Kong suffers from an ongoing shortage of organ donors.According to the statistics from the Hospital Authority, more than 3,000 patients were awaiting organ transplants as of March 31 this year.Last year, 76 patients under the Hospital Authority were placed on the waiting list for a heart transplant, while 21 were waiting for a lung. Only 12 hearts and six lungs were retrieved from deceased or living donors.Research from the Legislative Council shows that between 2016 and last year, the overall number of organ transplants performed at public hospitals declined while the number of patients waiting for a transplant rose from 2,205 to 2,745.In 2024, the average waiting time for kidneys, the most in-demand organ, stood at 61 months, while patients waited between 32 to 38 months for livers, hearts and lungs.Between 2020 and 2024, a total of 109 patients died while waiting for liver, heart or lung transplants.The Legco research also showed Hong Kong had one of the world’s lowest rates of deceased organ donation.