Young donors in Gansu seek to give gift of life

LANZHOU－Teens are always finding new ways to celebrate their 18th birthdays. This is particularly true of Hu Wenyi, a college student from Gansu province.

Two years ago, to mark her entry into adulthood, she came up with a novel way to celebrate－registering online to become an organ and body donor.

The now-20-year-old student at the Lanzhou College of Foreign Studies, visited the Gansu branch of the Red Cross Society last week, where she signed the forms to complete the final formalities necessary to register.

The number of people signing up to become donors has been rising in recent years, with young people showing particular enthusiasm. Data from the China Organ Donation Administrative Center shows that more than 5.01 million people had signed up to become donors by early September, compared with the 25,000 who registered in 2015.

In Gansu, people aged between 18 and 29 account for 63.4 percent of all registered donors, said Hou Chunrui, head of the Health Promotion Office at the Gansu branch of the Red Cross Society.

"Well-educated younger generations are breaking taboos surrounding talking about death, such as body donations and eco-friendly burials," Hou said, noting that this indicated the improved development of life education in China.

Cui Hao, 20, decided to sign up to become an organ and body donor following the sudden death of a friend in a car accident six months ago. Grieving for months, he was suddenly aware of the fragility of life.

"That was the first time I experienced the pain of death, which made me think about the meaning of life," he said.

Recovering from his sorrow, Cui convinced his parents to support his decision, which he hopes will save others from being tormented by the pain of death.

"The real death of a person is when nobody remembers them," said 21-year-old registered organ donor, Fu Yansong.

"When other people are able to live longer and better thanks to my organs, it feels like my life is being extended in another way."

While Fu seeks to extend the value of his life beyond death, Hu hopes to raise public awareness about the importance of donations to the advancement of medical science.

The young woman, who became a medical student three years ago, refers to cadavers as "silent teachers", and said that although the number of organ donors is increasing, many still reject the idea of giving their bodies to medical research, as Chinese people traditionally hold the belief that a body should remain intact after death.

"These silent teachers play a vital role in medical education and research. They give medical students a real understanding of the human body," Hu said.

Unsurprisingly, her parents opposed her decision to donate her body, but she managed to convince them to support her.

"My decision was not made in haste or out of pessimism, but following a long deliberation on the meaning of life," she said.

Xinhua