The reunion of a wife with the man who transplanted her husband's heart

Receiving an invitation to participate in the program "Giving is Forever" to celebrate the founding anniversary of the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center on the morning of November 29, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hang, 26 years old, from Hung Ha, Thai Binh, did not expect to meet the person holding her husband's heart.

The moment the MC called out the name of Mr. Tran Tuan, 52 years old, from Thua Thien Hue, and the person who had received her husband’s heart transplant stood up, Ms. Hang could not hold back her emotions. Tears welled up in her eyes, her hands trembled, and she hugged Mr. Tuan. The two hugged each other tightly, sobbing, unable to speak.

For the past six months, she has been looking forward to the day she will meet the recipient of her husband's heart. This time, her wish was fulfilled when she met Mr. Tuan. "I always tell my two children that their father is still alive, living in another person's body. In order to prolong his life, I hope that Mr. Tuan will always be healthy to preserve the heart of the children's father," Ms. Hang said, holding Mr. Tuan's hand tightly.

Ms. Hang said that if she had known that Mr. Tuan was going to Hanoi, she would have let her mother-in-law come to see him. "She is the one who gave birth to him, she wants to see Mr. Tuan more than anyone else," she said emotionally.

Regaining her composure, Ms. Hang said that her husband, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Khiem, was a discharged soldier who returned to his hometown to learn cooking, working 30 km away from home. At the age of 30, he was the main breadwinner of the family. His older brother was mentally disabled, and the family had elderly parents, a wife, and two daughters, just over one year old and three years old.

In mid-May, Mr. Khiem unfortunately had a traffic accident on his way home from work. He was taken to Viet Duc Hospital for emergency treatment but quickly fell into a coma and became brain dead. Regarding the issue of donating her husband's organs, Ms. Hang called her mother-in-law. The phone call between mother and son was not long, but full of pain and determination. They agreed to donate their son's heart, liver, kidneys and 2 corneas to medicine.In her hometown of Hung Ha, her family is a family.first decision to donate organs of relatives.

Khiem's ​​heart was transported from Hanoi to Hue, saving Tran Tuan's life on May 18. The remaining organs were also transplanted to five other strangers. "When he saw the box containing Khiem's ​​heart being transported to Hue, his nephew exclaimed: 'This is the first time you've been on a plane!'", Ms. Hang said.

After recovering from a heart transplant, Mr. Tran Tuan is now as healthy as a normal person. Mr. Tuan shared that he had suffered from heart failure for two years and was being treated at Hue Central Hospital. "In April 2018, the doctor said that the disease was in the final stage, the only hope was to wait for a heart transplant. I had all the tests done and was just waiting for someone to donate a heart for surgery. But at that time, I didn't have much hope, I even gave up," said Mr. Tuan.

The miracle happened, after many disappointments and waiting, he received Khiem's ​​heart transplant. For the past 6 months, he has also been searching for the donor's family. He posted the information on his personal Facebook but could not find it. "This time, meeting Ms. Hang in Hanoi, I was extremely touched. After this trip, I will go to Thai Binh with my family to burn incense for Khiem, wishing to be a member of that family", Mr. Tuan said.

Organ transplantation is one of the 10 greatest inventions of mankind in the 20th century, the only way to save the lives of terminally ill patients. Every year, tens of thousands of people in the world benefit from organ transplantation, but unfortunately this is out of reach for tens of thousands of terminally ill patients who are waiting to die each year due to a lack of transplant organs in our country.

However, thanks to the efforts of organ donation campaigns, especially after the stories of Hai An and Van Nhi, the number of people registering to donate organs has increased rapidly. In the past 10 months, it has increased to nearly 20,000 people.