Organ donations giving people new chance at life

The day before Zhou Hai died of liver cancer, he was weak and could barely communicate.

"My father pointed his fingers at his eyes, and I told him that the doctors have confirmed that his corneas can be donated," said his son, Zhou Yirong. "He blinked hard in response."

Making posthumous organ donations carried a particular significance for Zhou because he himself had benefited from the donation of a liver from a teenager who'd died suddenly in 2017.

In the past five years, he has not only been able to live a normal life as a police officer and a grandfather of two in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, but he has also played on a special basketball team spreading awareness about organ donation.

The 16-year-old boy, who died of a sudden brain hemorrhage and whose liver was donated to Zhou, also gave his heart, lung, kidneys and corneas to six other people in need.

Having learned that the donor loved playing basketball, five of the recipients, including Zhou, formed a basketball team named after the boy and played against professional players from the Women's Chinese Basketball Association in early 2019.

Zhou, a basketball fan himself, was the core of the team, said Hou Fengzhong, head of the China Organ Donation Administrative Center.

"He was very enthusiastic and actively took on the role of coordinating and communicating. His basketball level was also the most advanced on the team, so he coached the others," Hou said.

After the match, Zhou said, "We did not play very well, but we made the boy's dream come true and we really want to pass on the goodwill."

In June of last year, Zhou was told that his liver cancer had recurred and spread to his lungs.

By this April, the tumor had grown so big that Zhou decided to call the center and check off an important item on his bucket list-registering to donate his organs after death in order to help others like the boy who gave him a second chance at life.

In China, the traditional belief that bodies should remain intact after death has made many reluctant to donate organs.

Zhou Hai said during an earlier interview that he was delighted by the fact that his wife, son and 84-year-old mother had all respected his decision.

On June 13, Zhou died at 57. His corneas have been successfully transplanted onto two patients, enabling them to regain their eyesight, according to Red Cross officials in Guilin.

"In the past five years, my father met his second grandson, participated in many advocacy campaigns and helped more people on the waiting list for organs to regain their lives," Zhou Yirong said.

According to the center, the number of registered organ donors in China has increased from 380,000 in 2017 to 1.77 million in 2019, and the number of newly registered people has exceeded 1 million in both of the last two years.