Family, doctors make urgent appeal for organ donation to save Hong Kong man ‘in desperate need’ of new heart
“He is in desperate need of a suitable heart to continue his life.”
Kwok’s wife described him as a good husband in her appeal.
“It would show a spirit of great love if someone donated a heart,” she said. “It would be very lucky if a dying patient received a suitable heart and regained a healthy body.”
She said their 13-year-old daughter, who saw Kwok connected to various tubes, was afraid for her father.
Kwok was diagnosed with ischemic cardiomyopathy, or decreased ability to pump blood due to a damaged heart muscle from a lack of blood flow, when he was sent to Tuen Mun Hospital over shortness of breath and chest pain in early December.
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He was later transferred to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam in mid-December for further treatment.
Wong said Kwok had a blocked coronary artery, resulting in a lack of blood flow to heart muscles – a condition that left his heart extensively damaged.
He said many scar tissues formed in Kwok’s heart following the damage, leaving his organ with an inability to pump blood and irregular heartbeat.
Kwok has been on ventricular assist devices over the past two months to support the blood-pumping function of his heart. He also underwent operations to fix his irregular heartbeat and implant a pacemaker but to no avail.
Kwok has been placed on top of the transplant waiting list among patients with the same blood type and body size.
Dr Oswald Joseph Lee On-jing, a consultant at Queen Mary’s department of cardiothoracic surgery, said complications could develop with the mechanical support for heart functions.
Hong Kong doctors issue urgent appeal for heart transplant to save life of woman
“These machines are associated with a lot of complications, although they are essential at this moment to maintain his life,” Lee said. “A lot of complications can happen at any time, for example bleeding or clot formation … and infections.”
He added: “The golden time [for heart transplant] would be within two to three weeks.”
Kwok, whose blood type is O positive, weighs 57kg and is 168cm tall. A suitable donor would need to match these features, Wong said.
While Mrs Kwok had to spend three to four hours a day commuting between her Tuen Mun home and the hospital, she treasured the two-hour visiting time she had with her husband.
“My husband would sometimes say ‘I miss you a lot’ and ‘I can only see you for a short time every day’,” she said. “I really treasure those times together with him since he fell ill.”
Last year, only eight heart transplants were performed in Hong Kong. At the moment, 76 people are lining up for a new heart to continue their life.
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According to official statistics, the rate of Hongkongers willing to donate their organs after death dropped to 22.9 per cent in 2022-23 from 27.7 per cent in 2020-21. The rate of those unwilling, meanwhile, slightly increased from 15.1 per cent to 17.1 per cent over the same period.
Wong said over the past five to 10 years, most patients in need of heart transplants managed to find a donor organ. He said the medical team hoped to look for a donation in Hong Kong, but would also try their best to coordinate if an organ from elsewhere was fit for transplant.