The secret message of the 7-year-old girl who donated her corneas to her mother

On the morning of March 1, after preparing breakfast for Hai An, Ms. Thuy Duong hurriedly drove to the Central Eye Hospital with the hope of meeting the recipients of her daughter's corneas. Unable to meet them, Ms. Duong drove to the gate of her daughter's school, hid in a corner and quietly watched the children running around the school yard.

"Mom is still here, your friends are still here, your school is still here, but where are you?", Ms. Duong choked up as she looked at her daughter's photo on the phone screen.

In the past, every time she picked up her child from school, she would take him to Den Lu Lake next to her house to enjoy the fresh air. This morning, the scene was the same but she was the only one walking slowly. "I miss An so much," said Ms. Duong.

These days, Ms. Duong's spirit has been better. She still keeps her phone and iPad with her to look at photos and watch videos of her daughter. Then, unexpectedly, she read her daughter's messages in the notes on the iPad. She wrote a lot, each message was inserted into many different notes.

"Mom, have you seen me again?", "Mom, can you hear my heartbeat?, "Mom, are you okay?", "Mom, has Bun given birth yet? Remember to feed Bun?", "Remember to eat lots of green vegetables, drink lots of water, don't take sleeping pills.", "Mom, I love you. Smile!", "Mom, wait for me for 500 years.", "Mom, I love you. Be happy...".

"I cried all night reading my daughter's message. I don't know when she wrote it. She is so wonderful," Ms. Duong said, looking up at her daughter's portrait and smiling.

Ms. Duong said that when she was pregnant with An, at least 10 doctors advised her to abort the fetus because it was dangerous for the mother, but her motherly love did not allow her to do so. After 9 difficult months, An was born healthy next to her.

In September 2017, Hai An began to show signs of facial nerve paralysis, causing her mouth to be crooked and her eyes to have double vision. Two months later, An had a CT scan and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. "When I found out my child had cancer, half of my soul died. I didn't expect her to pass away so quickly," Ms. Duong sobbed.

Every day, mother and daughter say they love each other, the mother said. An is an affectionate and kind girl. During their conversations, Ms. Duong often talked about donating organs and bodies to medicine. Those humane stories inspired the 7-year-old child. It seems that An also felt that noble act and wanted to do good things with her mother in the future. "Organ donation was An's last wish. When An was still conscious, the mother and daughter often talked and she expressed her wish," Ms. Duong said.

A month before she died, An had to have a tracheostomy and be put on a ventilator. When her daughter was too weak and the doctors had no way to save her, she had to take her home. During the trip back from the Central Cancer Hospital, the mother had to shout many times: "An, don't leave me."

"After driving a while, An's heart suddenly started beating slower. I searched the whole car for a stethoscope, then was stunned because his heart showed signs of stopping. I kept using my hands to perform chest compressions for him the rest of the way, until we got home," Ms. Duong recalled.

When Hai An was about to die, Ms. Duong called the National Coordination Center for Human Organ Transplantation with the wish to donate organs. However, the current regulations only accept organ donations from people 18 years of age or older. In the end, Ms. Duong decided to help her son fulfill his wish by donating his corneas.

The two people who received An's corneal transplant responded well. Hearing the news of the successful transplant, Ms. Duong's heart was somewhat relieved. Her only desire now was to see An again in the eyes of the two cornea recipients, so that every time she read An's message "Have you seen me yet?" she could reply "I've seen your lovely eyes, don't worry."