Medical staff in an operating room of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University bowed low to an American lying on an operating table to pay tribute to him Oct 11. The American died that day, and one of his kidneys and both his corneas would be donated — the kidney, to save the life of a Chinese person, and the corneas, to allow several people with eye disease to recover their sight. The American became the first foreigner to donate his organs in East China’s Jiangsu province.
According to the Red Cross Society of Suzhou City, the 41-year-old American came to China over a year ago. He worked as an English-language teacher at an English training institution in Suzhou’s Changshu city before his death. On the evening of Oct 1, he suffered from a sudden stroke and was sent to a local hospital for treatment. He was later transferred to the FAHSU and was finally identified as braindead. As an organ donation logo was found on his driver’s license, the medical staff at the hospital contacted the Red Cross Society to make the request, and the American’s mother, who came to Suzhou on Oct 10, has agreed to donate her son’s organs to fulfill his last wish.
