Four victims of brain failure at Vietnam-Germany Hospital, the country’s largest surgical center, saved 16 lives when doctors successfully transplanted their organs into those in need.

The donors gave eight kidneys, four livers, and four hearts to save strangers’ lives in the May 16 - June 13 period, the Hanoi-based hospital said in a recent report.

Two of the four donated hearts were delivered to the central city of Hue just in time to save the lives of a 52-year-old man and a teenager.

The other two have also been successfully transplanted, with the most recent recipient emerging from a coma following a June 13 surgery.

Tran Binh Giang, director of the hospital, said he plans to keep the identity of two of the four recipients confidential. 

Of the four patients whose organs were donated, Giang shared that it is “a miracle” to be able to save a life.

The technology to transplant kidneys and livers was made available in Vietnam in 1992 and 2004, respectively.

Cardiac transplantations first became available in the country in 2010, preceding the transplantation of lungs from living donors in 2017, then from brain dead donors in 2018.

However, as the Southeast Asian country is still heavily conservative, most object to the notion of posthumously donating their organs.

The number of Vietnamese saved by organ donations has been humble at best, but a steady increase has been recorded in the last few years.

Vietnam now aims to successfully transplant intestines, uteruses, arms, and faces, as it strives to rescue more patients and elevate its overall medical quality between now and 2020.