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Elizabeth Cheung

The family of a 48-year-old man with heart failure has appealed to Hongkongers to consider organ donation, as doctors said the next two to three weeks were the golden time for a transplant.
Mechanic Kwok Ho-wing is in an urgent need of a new heart because his own is functioning at just 20 per cent.
“Ho-wing’s heart function is very weak,” said Dr Michael Wong Ka-lam, consultant of the cardiac medicine unit at Grantham Hospital. “His physical condition is very unstable and he heavily relies on external supporting devices.
“He is in desperate need of a suitable heart to continue his life.”

Kwok’s wife said he was a good husband in her appeal.
“It would show a spirit of great love if someone donated a heart,” she said. “It would be very lucky if a dying patient received a suitable heart and regained a healthy body.”
She said their 13-year-old daughter, who had seen Kwok connected up to various tubes, was afraid for her father.
Kwok was diagnosed with ischemic cardiomyopathy, or decreased ability to pump blood because of a damaged heart muscle from a lack of blood flow, when he was sent to Tuen Mun Hospital over shortness of breath and chest pain in early December.
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He was later transferred to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam in mid-December for further treatment.
Wong said Kwok had a blocked coronary artery that caused a lack of blood flow to his heart muscles – a condition that left his heart extensively damaged.
He said a lot of scar tissue had formed in Kwok’s heart after the damage, which left it with an inability to pump blood and an irregular heartbeat.

Kwok has been on ventricular assist devices over the past two months to support the blood-pumping function of his heart. He also underwent operations to fix his irregular heartbeat and implant a pacemaker but to no avail.
Kwok has been placed at the top of the transplant waiting list among patients with the same blood type and body size.
Dr Oswald Joseph Lee On-jing, a consultant at Queen Mary’s department of cardiothoracic surgery, said complications could develop with the mechanical support for heart function.
Hong Kong doctors issue urgent appeal for heart transplant to save life of woman
“These machines are associated with a lot of complications, although they are essential at this moment to maintain his life,” Lee said. “A lot of complications can happen at any time, for example bleeding or clot formation … and infections.”
He added: “The golden time [for heart transplant] would be within two to three weeks.”
Kwok, whose blood type is O positive, weighs 57kg and is 168cm tall. A suitable donor would need to match these features, Wong said.

Mrs Kwok has had to spend three to four hours a day commuting between her Tuen Mun home and the hospital, but said she treasured the two-hour visiting time she had with her husband.
“My husband would sometimes say ‘I miss you a lot’ and ‘I can only see you for a short time every day’,” she said. “I really treasure those times together with him since he fell ill.”
Just eight heart transplants were performed in Hong Kong last year. There are at present 76 people in the queue for a new heart and a new lease of life.
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The rate of Hongkongers willing to donate their organs after death dropped to 22.9 per cent in 2022-23 from 27.7 per cent in 2020-21, official statistics have shown.
The rate of those unwilling to donate increased from 15.1 per cent to 17.1 per cent over the same period.
Wong said, over the past five to 10 years, most patients in need of heart transplants had managed to find a donor organ.
He added the medical team hoped to look for a donation in Hong Kong, but would also try their best to coordinate if an organ from elsewhere was found to be a suitable match.


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Family, doctors make urgent appeal for organ donation to save Hong Kong man ‘in desperate need’ of new heart

Kwok Ho-wing is in desperate need of a new heart. Photo: Handout

Kwok Ho-wing (left) with his wife and daughter. He was diagnosed with damaged heart muscle from a lack of blood flow in December. Photo: Handout

The patient’s wife (left) describes Kwok as a good husband. Photo: May Tse

Doctors say the next two to three weeks will be the golden time for Kwok to get a heart transplant. Photo: May Tse

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Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Kwok Ho-wing, whose heart functions at just 20 per cent, was diagnosed with decreased ability to pump blood in December
The 48-year-old husband and father suffered blocked coronary artery, which caused extensive damage to his heart


Kwok Ho-wing, whose heart functions at just 20 per cent, was diagnosed with damaged muscle from a lack of blood flow in December.


Queen Mary Hospital

Tuen Mun Hospital