9-day-old infant saves life of 8-month-old by donating kidney
Medical staff bowed their heads and observed a moment of silence to the organ donor.
An infant in Kunming, who had only been in the world for nine days, donated her kidney and saved the life of an 8-month-old dying patient in Wuhan.
The infant, who died on July 26, became the youngest organ donor in Yunnan Province.
On July 17 a woman, surnamed Zuo, had an emergency caesarean section due to complications at the Kunming Maternal and Child Health Hospital, and gave birth to a female infant weighing 2.67 kilograms.
However, the infant, who was born with severe asphyxia, remained in a deep coma even after four days' continuous effort by doctors to save her life.
She was diagnosed as brain dead on the seventh day after her birth. It's reported that she was the couple's second child.
The heartbroken father put forward the idea of organ donation as a way for his daughter to leave something useful in the world. He said, "Though my child has only been in the world for a very short time, I hope her organs can save others."
After doctors removed the breathing machine, the infant's heartbeat stopped on the morning of July 26. On the same night, one of her kidneys was successfully transplanted to an 8-month-old baby who suffered from kidney failure in Wuhan, Hubei Province.
The surgeon said the kidney well matched the receiver, who is now recovering well.
