Sunday January 18, 2009
By RASHVINJEET S.BEDI
PETALING JAYA: When she was alive, Esther Lim Joy-Ern (pic) brought joy to everyone she met. With her passing at the age of two years and nine months, she gave others a new lease on life.
The only daughter of Lim Heng Seng, 56, and Claire George, 30, (they have two sons), Esther died of brain tumour last month in Kota Kinabalu.
Her kidneys were harvested and the recipients are a 17-year-old boy in Sabah and a 12-year-old girl in Malacca.
Her passing is a painful loss to her parents but they did not have any reservations when asked if Esther’s organs could be harvested.
“There was complete peace in my heart,” said her mother.
“It felt like the right thing to do,” Lim added.
“We knew that this gift is reflective of Esther’s life. Her name means joy and grace. Our precious daughter is already in heaven.
“I can only thank God that she was in our life. With her passing, she continues to be a joy and blessing to others,” said George.
She, however, admitted that the concept of harvesting organs was new to her family and she had to convince Esther’s grandmother about its benefits.
The couple is now encouraging others to do the same. They have sons Benjamin Lim An-Yi, six, and Joshua Lim An-Yue, two.
They have also given each other permission to consent to their own organs being harvested.
“The doctors did not push us into doing this and when they handed Esther to us after the procedure, she looked angelic.
“I know the staff had gone out of their way to do their best to save our daughter’s life,” said Lim.
Dr Indra Ganesan, the Consultant Paediatric Nephrologist who was part of the team that coordinated the harvesting process, said both recipients were at the end stage of renal failure and were dialysis-dependent,
“When they received a new donated kidney that functions, they had a life-changing experience. They can now drink unlimited amount of fluids and are no longer dialysis-dependent,” she said.
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