A British man died and donated organs to six Chinese in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province on Wednesday, making him the second foreigner in the province's organ donation history, Qianjiang Evening News reported.
Mark Terence Osborne, who was 49, was sent to the operating room at 9 am on the 118th day on the hospital bed and donated his corneas, kidneys, liver and heart. His wife, surnamed Wang, decided to make the donation under his former will and with his daughter's consent back in the UK when he was diagnosed as cerebrally dead.
"We talked about this topic before," said Wang, adding that Osborne's attitude was clear.
Osborne came to Hangzhou more than six years ago for his beloved wife, a local Chinese woman, and lived and worked there since then.
According to Wang, Osborne loved Chinese paper cutting and the fountain at West Lake, and liked walking on Hefang Street in Hangzhou. He once brought back home three injured birds along Qiantang River bank and raised them. If he saw a student doing homework at a restaurant he happened to dine in, he would offer to teach the kid English.
Their tranquil life came to an abrupt end on March 3, 2016 when Osborne had a sudden stroke, which was later diagnosed as subarachnoid hemorrhage, or a rupture of a blood vessel just outside the brain, and he fell into a deep coma.
June 8, 2016 was the couple's sixth wedding anniversary. Wang held a party at Osbrone's sickbed at the Intensive Care Unit in the hospital.
"I hope our friends can make a farewell to Mark on this memorial day," said Wang with smile always on her face at the party though silent tears came from the corners of her eyes from time to time.
According to Wang, Osborne was not unfamiliar with organ donation. His mother received a heart transplantation operation from a donor and lived for ten more years. His family believes that they should return the favor by donating organs to others.
When Wang made the decision to donate, Osborne's family was very supportive and delivered all the files that donation required immediately. Wang signed on the organ donation registration form for Osborne and herself on June 29. She plans to help others in the way her husband did.
"He told me that if he dies, he wishes to die in China," said Wang. Osborne prolonged his life in this way in his beloved land.
Until yesterday, four organ transplantations were underway thanks to Osborne's donation. The waiting time of four patients ranges from half a year to two years and their average age is 48 years old.
