Four people have received vital new organs thanks to the generosity of a family who wanted their loved one to 'live on' through others.
'I feel reborn,' said 54-year-old Ben Lau, whose tortuous three-year wait for a new liver finally ended in May, due to an unnamed stroke victim. The donor's heart and kidneys are also benefitting some of the almost 2,500 Hongkongers on the waiting list for new organs.
Lau is full of appreciation for the person he calls his 'hidden hero' - and his optimism is in stark contrast to two months ago, when he told the South China Morning Post there was little hope of getting the donation he needed to save him from cirrhosis.
'We know the chance [of a donation] is really slim, and we see many people die waiting for one,' he said then. 'I have prepared for the worst. What my mind cannot settle is to leave my wife [alone].'
But a telephone call on a Thursday night in May brought hope. He immediately took a taxi from his home in Wong Tai Sin to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam and underwent the 11-hour transplant operation the following day.
'After all these years of queuing, I never really thought I could wait until the day I receive a new liver. I must be very lucky,' he said after returning home early last month.
'There is no word I could say to thank the [donor's] family enough. They must have suffered a lot of pain with the loss of one of their loved ones, but I want them to know how their decision has changed me and my family. I hope they can find some comfort by knowing this.'