An 18-year-old man from An Giang Province in southern Vietnam, who was declared brain-dead after a traumatic brain injury, has saved seven lives through organ donation.

Thong Nhat Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City announced on Tuesday that the transplants were successfully performed using the young man’s donated organs.

On November 17, N.P.K., the deceased, was admitted to the hospital with severe traumatic brain injuries and a subdural hematoma, leaving him in a deep coma.

Despite emergency care and surgery, his condition deteriorated to brain death.

The hospital's organ donation advocacy team met with K.'s family to discuss the possibilty of his organ donation.

After understanding the impact their son’s gifts could have on others' lives, his parents and grandparents made the courageous decision to agree to the donation.

On November 24, following an official brain death assessment, Thong Nhat Hospital, in collaboration with experts from the Vietnam National Coordinating Center for Human Organ Transplantation and Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, carried out the organ retrieval procedure.

Seven organs were successfully transplanted into patients in need. 

Two kidneys were given to patients at Thong Nhat Hospital, while a liver segment was transplanted at the University Medical Center in Ho Chi Minh City. 

The Hanoi-based Vietnam-Germany Friendship Hospital received a heart and part of a liver. 

Two corneas restored vision for patients at Hue Central Hospital in Thua Thien-Hue Province, central Vietnam.

Thong Nhat Hospital organized a respectful farewell for K., ensuring his remains were returned to his hometown for burial.

Hospital officials hailed the act as a symbol of profound humanity, emphasizing the close coordination required for successful transplants.

Assoc. Prof. Le Dinh Thanh, director of Thong Nhat Hospital, praised the family’s selfless act, which offered many across Vietnam a second chance to live.

Nguyen Duy Cuong, head of the general planning department at Thong Nhat Hospital, described the intense care taken during the process, including the triple confirmation of brain death and careful coordination with police escorts and a local airline to ensure that the donated organs were timely transported to Hanoi and Hue.

Tran Cong Duy Long, a doctor from the University Medical Center, recalled their team's sleepless night as they identified suitable recipients.

The transplant recipients included a critically ill three-year-old with end-stage liver failure and a cancer patient in northern Vietnam, both of whom are recovering well post-op, Long added.

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