PETALING JAYA: Former nurse Jenny Ursula Peter James had registered as a donor and told her family and friends about it.
When she was 33, Jenny, the third of five siblings, suffered a brain haemorrhage and went into a coma on April 4. She was declared brain dead the next day.
Her family then agreed to donate her corneas to two patients who were urgently in need.
Her sister Marilyn, 40, said the doctors asked if the family was willing to donate her healthy organs to help save lives.
“Our family sat down to discuss it and decided to go ahead. We felt that it would not only save lives; part of her would still be alive,” she said.
“I think we made the right decision. I believe she would be proud.”
Tan Jian Wei, 31, was a construction worker who was killed when a lorry hit his motorcycle while he was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Petaling Jaya on Feb 18.
He, too, had pledged to donate his organs.
The family donated his organs after he was pronounced brain dead after the accident.
His elder brother, Jun How, 36, said his brother was rushed to the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (PPUM) but was pronounced brain dead a day later.
His brother had pledged to donate his corneas and kidneys.
“There were immediate recipients for the two kidneys and corneas, which was fortunate because corneas only have a two-week deadline,” he said.
He added that his younger brother never drank or smoked and spent most of his time working at construction sites.
“He had two wishes in life: the first was to buy a house and the second was to find a girlfriend and get married.
“While he achieved his first dream, he will never be able to attain the second,” he said.
According to Jun How, doctors successfully performed surgery to remove his brother’s corneas and kidneys on Feb 20.
Both Jun How and Marilyn hoped that the stories of their siblings would encourage more Malaysians to register as organ donors.
They said they want to help people who really need the organs to live.
