He gave his healthy kidney to a total stranger? Wow

[Geordie]

SINGAPORE - Guardian angel, "kor kor", and yes, mad man.

Mr Lin Dilun, 27, has been called all that.

You see, he has done something extraordinary. Something that confounds even the experts.


After reading a story about a boy who had no kidney in The New Paper in 2010, Mr Lin made a monumental decision - he was going to donate one of his healthy kidneys to the complete stranger.

And after a two-year journey packed with interviews and medical tests, Mr Lin did just that two weeks ago.

He underwent a four-hour operation at the National University Hospital (NUH) to remove one of his kidneys.

Today, little Bryan Liu, 6, is recovering, with Mr Lin's kidney in him.

Mr Lin, an events consultant, has given the boy, who started Primary 1 this year, a new lease of life.

He says, in typically modest fashion: "I have something I don't need and someone needs it - it's perfectly logical to give it to him.

"The crucial thing is, if I give it away, can I still survive? If yes, it's no loss to me. It makes perfect sense."

Not so to some of his friends and relatives. They thought him mad.

Mr Lin is now back home in a three-room flat in Ang Mo Kio, while Bryan is still recovering in hospital.

Mr Lin's parents are divorced and his mother has remarried. He has an elder brother and two younger half-siblings.

The former Nanyang Polytechnic student describes himself as fun-loving.

But his act is all-loving: Organ donations are few. As of March this year, there are 448 patients on the national waiting list for a kidney transplant, said a Ministry of Health (MOH) spokesman.

Cases of living donors are rare. And donors are often relatives or people who know the patient.

MOH does not track the number of unrelated altruistic organ donors in Singapore.

When told that Bryan's donor is a Singaporean, renal physician Dr Akira Wu, 62, who has done at least 300 kidney transplants in 20 years, said it is the first case of a Singaporean altruistic donor he is aware of.

To prevent financial and emotional complications and potential abuse, by law, the donor and the recipient - or their families - are not meant to be in direct contact.

But if both donor and recipient agree to meet, they can do so.

YourHealth | He gave his healthy kidney to a total stranger

Very few people are altruistic like the altruistic donor nowadays. He's really good.

 

[Arashi222]

I heard about this its amazing. I mean I just think about what my life would have been like without my cornea transplant when I was in high school and to think that this man didn't know the person I strive to be like him. To live every day as if it is your last and have no regrets. He is amazing.

 

[Soup]

What an inspiring story!

@Arashi: I'm glad you got that cornea & are so appreciative of it. Anyone who says Aspies lack empathy needs to meet YOU!

 

[smith2267]

He has an altruism spectrum disorder.

 

[Geordie]

@Arashi - I am also happy you had a cornea transplant that changed your life for the better Great you're appreciative of what you have, I'm also mostly happy with what I have too

@Soup - Thanks! I also find this story inspiring!