The organs of a 14-year-old boy in Singapore who collapsed and died during a run at school have been donated by his mother, fulfilling her son’s sincere wish to help others.
The tragic incident happened on May 2 when Lu Xuanzheng collapsed during a 2.4-kilometre run as part of a physical fitness test at Woodlands Secondary School in the north of Singapore.
He was immediately rushed to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
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Lu fell into a deep coma and remained hospitalised for more than three weeks. His devoted mother, 52-year-old accountant, Su Yanfen, remained at his bedside until he passed away.
Despite her constant care and the medical attention, doctors declared Lu brain-dead on May 25, after 24 days in a coma.
In an interview with Singapore newspaper, Lianhe Zaobao, Su said she was plunged into deep despair by her son’s death. She never imagined that the farewell she bid her son at the school gate that morning would be her last.
“The doctors said Xuanzheng might have experienced cardiac failure due to intense exercise, leading to arrhythmia and then a coma. There was no history of such conditions in our family, and Xuanzheng had never complained of heart issues. It happened so suddenly,” she said.
Su and her husband, originally from Malaysia, had moved Xuanzheng to Singapore to attend primary school in 2017, with their two older sons joining later.
In 2022, her husband passed away from liver cancer.
Last October, Su lost all the insurance money and savings left by her husband to an online scam while buying food for Xuanzheng.
As tragedy struck her family again and she grappled with the grief of her son’s death, Su also faced the difficult decision of whether to donate his organs.
Initially, she wanted to protect her son from any further suffering.
However, after learning from hospital staff that more than 400 patients were desperately waiting for organ transplants, and recalling her son’s greatest dream was to help others, she did what she thought was best.
“I looked at organ donation from my child’s perspective,” Su said. “The next day, I contacted the organ donation coordinator to share our decision.”
On the day she signed the papers to donate her son’s organs, about 30 relatives and friends gathered at the hospital to bid farewell to Xuanzheng and to support Su.
On May 26, the doctors completed the organ transplant surgery. The hospital later told Su that Lu’s corneas, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and skin donated has benefited at least three patients.
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