Last Saturday, while still lying in the intensive care unit (ICU) recovering from the deadly traffic accident that took away their six-month-old son, Yiming, Mr. Wang and his wife from Sichuan Province signed the papers to donate their baby’s organs to save the lives of others.

Mr. Wang, in bed, agreed to donate his son's organs. /Chengdu Business Daily Photo

On May 6, the family of three was traveling to a local hospital to have the baby’s eyes checked. Not long after they got into the car and left home, they experienced a violent crash and lost consciousness. Mr. Wang told Chengdu Business Daily that he could vaguely recall being sent to the hospital in an ambulance.

The family was badly hurt and was transferred into the ICU for intensive care. The parents suffered serious fractures and damage to internal organs. The baby, held in his father’s arms while the crash happened, was hit on the head and experienced internal bleeding.

Six-month-old Yiming before the accident. /Chengdu Business Daily Photo

Five days later, as the parents began to recover, they were told by the doctor that their son was determined to be brain dead.

Hearing the news, the mother broke down crying, fell silent, and then asked the doctor if there was any way to prolong the child’s life. The doctor suggested organ donation. 

The mother holds his baby before the accident. /Chengdu Business Daily Photo

The family hesitated at first. Yiming’s grandmother was the first to refuse. “I wanted to keep the child whole. He was so tiny in the first place and we cherished him so much.” 

At a second thought, however, she changed her mind. “As long as Yiming’s organs don’t perish, our baby survives.”

Yiming’s liver and kidneys were donated and the organs were sent to Shanghai, where a four-year-old and a 20-year-old benefited from organ transplantation and regained life.

According to the China Organ Donation Administrative Center, by the end of April, a total of 31,703 organs were donated and 256,570 people have registered for organ donation across China since 2011. To encourage organ donation, China’s National People’s Congress passed an amendment in February, urging the Red Cross Society of China to actively participate and promote organ donation in the country.