‘I’m so scared’: parents of dying Hong Kong girl, 13, pray for organ ‘miracle’

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.The parents of a 13-year-old Hong Kong girl critically in need of a new heart and lungs have appealed to the public in hopes of a “miracle”, with the girl fearing she “won’t be able to go home”.In a letter published on Friday, Ching Ching’s parents called on families who have recently lost loved ones to consider donating the needed organs to their daughter, who suffers from pulmonary hypertension and heart failure.The Hospital Authority first issued an urgent appeal for the girl, who weighs 25kg (55lbs), in early June and said she needed an immediate heart-lung transplant to survive.She is being kept alive at Hong Kong Children’s Hospital in Kowloon City with the support of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, commonly known as an artificial heart-lung machine.Ching Ching underwent five operations within eight days, with two surgeries lasting for more than 12 hours.Her parents said her condition was irreversible and a heart-lung transplant was the only way to save her life. The girl has an O-positive blood type and her condition is critical.“We know that successfully matching a heart for transplant is a very difficult thing, let alone receiving donations of both a heart and lungs at the same time,” the letter said.“But we still have faith that we will receive help and that Ching Ching will get her miracle.”Pamphlets about organ donation at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Jordan. According to the Hospital Authority, more than 3,000 patients were awaiting organ transplants as of March 31. Photo: Jelly TseThe teen has been in and out of hospital since birth, undergoing examinations and operations, although her recovery was smooth every time.Further Reading“Being hospitalised this time and learning that she might never be able to go home again has been a massive blow to her,” her parents said.They said that while Ching Ching appeared stable emotionally, she was afraid and avoided talking about her illness.They recounted that whenever her condition was brought up, she would cry and say: “I’m so scared, I’m so scared of surgery and it failing. I’m so scared I won’t be able to go home.”Her greatest wish was to be discharged and return home where she could enjoy her favourite foods and spend time with her loved ones, they said.They asked that families who had lost relatives step forward so they could give her that future.“Accepting the passing of a beloved person is already a heartbreaking pain, and making the decision to donate organs at such a sorrowful moment is even harder,” they said.The parents recalled that over the past month, they had signed many consent forms for treatments, each one an acknowledgement of the risk that it could lead to massive bleeding, a stroke or even death.But despite the emotional struggle, they gave their consent each time, the letter said.“What we hope for the most is to sign the surgery consent form for Ching Ching’s actual heart-lung transplant,” they said.According to statistics from the Hospital Authority, more than 3,000 patients were awaiting organ transplants as of March 31.Last year, 76 patients under the 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 donated.