Spotted on both The New Paper Online and STOMP today:

Father of drowned toddler: “What keeps me going is that she saved somebody’s life”

The heart valve and kidneys of Hanano Oyama, the Japanese toddler who tragically lost her life in a swimming pool accident, were used to save seriously-ill patients — a fact that means the world to her grieving father.

According to an article in The Straits Times, the 1½-year-old’s parents allowed doctors to remove her kidneys and heart valve after receiving the devastating news that she was brain-dead. This makes her the youngest solid organ donor in Singapore. Her organs were then used to help other seriously ill patients, one of whom was a child. “The only thing keeping me going is that she has saved somebody’s life,” said her father, Japanese national Norimichi Oyama. “That’s something I’m proud of.”

Mr Oyama recalled the moment he and his wife Kana, 35, a part-time administrative assistant, realised Hanano had gone missing two weeks ago during a family gathering at their Robertson Quay condominium.  The toddler was later found unconscious in the swimming pool. Doctors at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital fought to save her, but she never woke up.

On Sunday, they broke the news to Mr Oyama that she was brain-dead, and asked if he would allow her organs to be donated. Despite his grief, he did not hesitate. “It didn’t take me even one second to decide,” the 33-year-old consultant told The Straits Times.

Credits: The New Paper Online and STOMP

Kudos to the parents of Hanano Oyama for making such a selfless decision.
Also, RIP to Hanano Oyama..she’ll forever live on in the two people that her organs have saved.

Till later,
♥ mitsueki

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