Chang Gung University Held a Memorial Ceremony in 2022 in Honor of Organ Donors and Body Donors

Office of Secretariat

Chang Gung University held a memorial ceremony in honor of organ donors and body donors in the International Conference Hall of the university on the afternoon of March 26, 2022.  This year, in order to implement the pandemic prevention, 500 people were allowed to physically attend the ceremony, and online live broadcasts were provided.  This ceremony was held for everyone to reminisce about the selfless love and spirit of the deceased.  There were 54 organ donors and cadavers last year.  Although the life backgrounds of the donors were so different, however, one thing in common is that they all chose to leave love behind after they passed away in order to help many people to gain a new life.  They also set a good example to lead our medical students to unveil the wisdom of medicine, which will always be admired and remembered.

Every year, the university and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital jointly hold a memorial ceremony on the eve of the Qingming Festival. Due to the pandemic of the previous 2 years, the physical ceremony was suspended and changed to an online memorial service. This year, considering the increase in the domestic coverage rate of vaccination, we decided to resume the physical memorial ceremony. Professor Ming-Je Tang, CGU President, and Professor Wen-Jin Cherng, superintendent of the Linkou Branch of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital personally led the teachers and students of the College of Medicine and medical representatives of the hospital to attend the ceremony. In addition, we also invited Mei-Zhen Pang, senior executive officer of the Department of Medical Affairs of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, to attend the ceremony.

In his speech, President Ming-Je Tang hoped to convey through this solemn memorial ceremony his deep gratitude for the great love of the donors and thanked their family members for fulfilling the wishes of the deceased in leaving the love behind. As a result of the great love of organ donors, patients who are between life and death have the opportunity to stay alive. We also feel grateful to the body donors who contribute greatly to the promotion and development of medical education. The selfless love conveyed by donors and their families has set a great example for teachers and students.

Superintendent Wen-Jin Cherng said that Chang Gung Memorial Hospital has made every effort to promote the development of organ donation and transplantation, helping nearly 2,000 patients thus far to complete organ donation. In 2021, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital has completed nearly 300 cases of transplantation to help prolong the lives of patients waiting for transplants. We would like to thank every organ donor and their family members who filled the world with love and warmth. These selfless donors came from all walks of life and age groups. There were some educators who chose to dedicate themselves to "education" at the end of their lives; there were also patients waiting for organ transplants and eventually died, and their family deeply understood the feeling of waiting for the opportunity to stay alive; thus, they agreed with the donations; there were parents who helped their deceased children complete their donations and help many other families regain laughter and happiness.  Furthermore, some patients signed a donation consent form at the bedside as an appreciation of the care given by the medical staff and wanted to become a silence teacher at the end of life.

Organ donation for others to continue their life and regain their laughter

9-years-old Ming-Jie was a cheerful and caring child, and his innocent smile could always comfort the heart and soul of his father and mother. Although he was seriously ill at the age of 4 and often endured the torment of treatment, his parents always accompanied him and took good care of him.  Although Ming-Jie was still young and did not have the opportunity to understand the significance of organ donation, however, with sick children at home, Ming-Jie's parents were well aware of the suffering and hoped that through organ donation, they could help other sick people, let them have more time to spend with their loved ones after recovery, and have the courage to say love and gratitude to their family. In the end, Ming-Jie’s organs helped 3 families, so that these 3 families could also regain their laughter.

An organ recipient regained her life and learned to be appreciative and contented.

Ms. Wong, who regained her life after receiving a kidney transplant.  She expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the family members of the organ donor on behalf of all organ recipients.  She said that in 2016, she was suffering end-stage kidney disease.  Both of her kidneys on the left and right completely shrank, and she would need to be on dialysis in one year. She could still remember when she was afflicted by illness, she felt uncomfortable as if she was suffocating.  She felt so close to death that she was stunned and regretted that she did not take good care of her health.  After starting dialysis, because peritoneal dialysis requires changing the potion 4 to 6 times a day, going out made her feel as if she was Cinderella.  She must pay attention to time to rush home, and life was quite inconvenient.

After more than one year of waiting, she finally underwent an organ transplant in June 2019 and regained her new life. Miss Wong firmly believed that the donor's kidneys fought side by side with her, and she survived the pain of multiple infections after surgery with joy. She thanked the donor's family for their selfless love.  The end of one’s life became the beginning of another life, and with this kindness, she regained her new life. Going through the moment of life and death, she realized that it’s good to be alive.  She learned to be appreciative and contented, and hoped to witness the miracle of life that originated from the deepest kindness in the world and the advancement of modern medicine.

Students are grateful for the silent life education provided by the body donors.

The student representative Wen-Yu Wu, a third-year student from the School of Medicine, gave flowers to Ms. Mei-Ling Wu, a family member of Liang-Shui Sun, a body donor.  Student Wu said that death is an unknown field for young students, but body donors made students understand that "death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it".  Death can be a continuation of life, representing love and decision.  In addition to the inheritance of knowledge, the biggest reward that the body donors bring to students is the perception of life.  Student Wu said that the gentle and dignified face of the cadavers eliminated the fear of death, and silently led the students into the temple of medical knowledge.  Thanks to the cadavers for accompanying the students to learn and grow, she hoped that she could live up to the expectation of the teachers in the future.  No matter how difficult things are, she will overcome them one by one, and become a good doctor to spread love.

Following the guidance of the emcee, the teachers and students of the university and the representatives of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital all stood up and bowed sincerely to all the family members of the organ and body donors, expressing their highest respect.  Then a video of "Eternal Remembrance" was played in the ceremony, together with the music played by Chang Gung University String Club.  The attendees reviewed the biographies of the organ and body donors and conveyed the thoughts of their family. Finally, in the joint performance of the Chang Gung University Xiao-Yun Melody Choir and the String Club, the memorial ceremony ended successfully. The family members went to the "Leaving Love Behind" commemorative plaque on campus to offer flowers in memory of their beloved ones. Cards and paper cranes made by the staff, teachers, and students of Chang Gung University were placed along the way to convey endless remembrance and gratitude to donors.  In the end, everyone paid the deepest respect to the family members, so that more lives can continue because of great love.

 

The family members of donors and students offered flowers in front of the commemorative plaque.	Memorial cards were placed next to the memorial hall, allowing the family members of donors, teachers, and students to write words of blessing and gratitude.
Ms. Wong (right) expressed her gratitude on behalf of the organ recipients by presenting a bouquet of flowers to Mr. Zhou (left), the family representative of organ donors.	On behalf of all medical students, Miss Wu (right), student of Chang Gung University, presented a bouquet of flowers to Ms. Wu (left), family member of a body donor.