SCUFFLE OVER OP TO REMOVE ORGANS

We thought he'll WAKE UP THE NEXT DAY

His tears roll when we speak to him
He grips my hand when I hold his
That's why brother of dead man says...



By Chong Shin Yen
10 February 2007
The New Paper

HIS eyes twitched. His family saw tears.However little, this was enough to give the family of the late Mr Sim Tee Hua a sliver of hope. That was why they asked to be given one more day, they said, even though doctors had declared the 45-year-old brain dead. They were still hoping for a miracle.

Speaking in Mandarin to The New Paper at his brother's wake at Tampines Street 21 last night, Mr Sim's elder brother, Tee Yong, said: 'We noticed that tears would roll down from his eyes when we spoke to him, telling him not to give up. 'His eyes would twitch too. Once I felt him grip my hand when I held his hand. We thought he might wake up despite what the doctors said.'
But he was on life support and needed machines to keep his body alive.

A Ministry of Health spokesman explained that the eyes of a brain-dead person can twitch and have tears. This could be a reflex action caused by some irritation to the eye.

Mr Sim, a lorry driver, suffered a stroke at work on 1 Feb. He was rushed to Singapore General Hospital and regained consciousness.

'He could talk but was unable to move. He was agitated and said he could not accept that he had a stroke,' said the elder Mr Sim. Mr Sim had a brain haemorrhage two days later, on Saturday.
He was certified brain dead on Monday. That means brain activity had stopped completely and irreversibly and he would never regain consciousness. The family said doctors did explain this to them.

'We also know that medically a brain-dead person cannot wake up. But we did not want to give up hope,' said the elder Mr Sim, 49, a crane operator. The family was told that his brother had not opted out of the Human Organ Transplant Act. So his organs would be harvested for transplant that same day.

This could save organ failure patients, waiting for years, hoping for a transplant.
But Mr Sim's family asked for more time, clinging to their own hope.

His younger sister, Madam Sim Chew Lang, 32, said: 'We asked for two more days before they harvest his organs. 'My mother had prayed to the deities and was told that my brother would wake up in two days.'

GIVEN ONE DAY
They were given one day, until 10pm on Tuesday. The clock was ticking. Organs deteriorate with time and an MOH spokesman said there was a need to balance the needs of the family and the lives of organ failure patients.

'In some cases, a delay of a few days is possible,' the spokesman said.
'In other cases, the transplant needs to take place soon after brain-death certification, otherwise the organs would deteriorate to the point that the opportunity to help an organ failure patient is lost.'

The elder Mr Sim confirmed this was what happened to his brother. 'We were told by the doctors that because of the extension, his liver had deteriorated and could not be harvested,' he said.

As the deadline approached, Mr Sim's family asked for another day's extension. 'We believed that my brother would wake up the next day. We didn't want to give up hope,' said the elder Mr Sim.

When the family was told that a further extension was not possible, all hell broke loose.
There were about 20 family members outside the ICU where Mr Sim was warded. They included Mr Sim's mother, five siblings, uncles, aunties and cousins.

Said his sister, Chew Lang: 'My mother, me and five other relatives went down on our knees, crying and begging doctors to delay the organ harvesting for one more day.'

But they were turned down. The family then got into an argument with the hospital staff, which lasted for about three hours. Nine police officers and about 10 hospital security staff members were sent to the scene to calm them down.

Emotions were running high, with some of them wailing and screaming in an attempt to stop hospital staff from pushing Mr Sim into the operating theatre.

Said Madam Sim: 'We couldn't bear to give up on our brother and see him being pushed into the theatre. That would mean an end to all our hopes of him waking up.'

Madam Sim said she was held back by at least three police officers and bit one of them on his arm. 'I was just anxious to get to my niece and nephew because the police officers were holding them,' she said.

The elder Mr Sim said: 'We were told that his organs would deteriorate and cannot be transplanted if they waited too long.

'We want to help the organ failure patients, but we thought that one more day is not too much to ask for.'

Mr Sim, who is single, had a girlfriend from Hainan Island in China for the past six months.
'We were so happy for him when he told us he was planning to marry his girlfriend this year. I even told him that I would help him film his wedding,' said the elder Mr Sim.

He said Mr Sim's girlfriend has been told of his death but she was not planning to fly here to attend his funeral.

The family said Mr Sim had been healthy and would go jogging occasionally to keep fit.
The elder Mr Sim denied that the family got upset because they did not want his brother's organs to be donated.

'My brother had always been jovial and helpful. We know that he would be happy that his organs could help others,' he said.

'We had no objections to donating his organs, but all we asked for is just one more day for a miracle to happen.'





The revised HOTA includes four organs - kidney, liver, heart and cornea. Those who do not wish to donate a particular organ can register their objections for the specific organs.

In other words, they can opt out of any or all of the four organs under HOTA.Objection forms for this purpose are available at all public hospitals, polyclinics and the Organ Donor Registry. The form can als be downloaded from the Pledge Forms section.


People who opt-out of the revised HOTA, as well as those who are not covered under the revised HOTA, will receive lower priority on the waiting lists for the specific organs which they have opted out or have not pledged.


Muslims can pledge their kidneys under MTERA and receive equal priority on the kidney transplant list as other Singaporeans and Permanent Residents who have not opt out of HOTA.


In the mean while from Talkingock.com
by Pak Cham Kai

The Ministry of Health has warned citizens not too read too much into the current debate over whether to allow the open sale and trading of human organs.“This is purely in the interests of gauging public opinion on a developing issue of bioethics,” said SingHealth spokesman Dr. Helthi Singh.

“They should not read anything into the fact that the issue was broached by National Neuroscience Institute director Dr. Lee, whose father just happens to be Lord Voldemo… I mean, You Know Who.”

Dr. Singh said that citizens should not interpret the current debate as being the beginning of yet another process whereby:
• The elites want something done
• The ‘sensitive’ issue is first gently broached, preferably not by a direct member of the Gahmen
• Public opinion is then sought
• Public opinion is then said to be ‘considered’, but the Gahmen will act in the best interests of the country as it sees fit and all objections would have already been evaluated by the Gahmen’s elite scholars anyway
• Whatever policy the Gahmen wants, the Gahmen gets
• The Gahmen will embark on a heavy justification exercise in the media

“I don’t think citizens should be cynical and think that the legalization of organ trading is a fait accompli,” said Dr. Singh. “It’s not as if we have a group of ageing leaders and elites who will soon need spare parts, or who are impatient with waiting for peasants to mati. Right?”

“I agree,” said Por Cheng Hu, an anonymous pro-Gahmen comment poster on Sammyboy. “Anyway, why would our ageing elites want, like, other people’s hearts? For so long, they’ve been running the country just fine without any heart, mah.”