Young man donates body after death

Family members of Tan Taizhi, a 31-year-old leukemia patient, donated Tan’s organs to Shenzhen University (SZU) Medical School after his death in accordance with his last wishes ahead of Qingming Festival, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

Tan was diagnosed with T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia in October 2021. He then received chemotherapy treatments and underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation last year when his disease reappeared.

Medical workers and family members of Tan Taizhi bid farewell to his body in a hospital ward March 25. Shenzhen Special Zone Daily

After transplantation, he developed intestinal GVHD (graft-versus-host disease), CMV encephalitis and hemorrhagic cystitis, and went to Shenzhen University General Hospital on Jan. 29 this year.

After treatments at the hospital, Tan’s situation was stable. Unfortunately, he started coughing later and showed a fungal bacterial co-infection in the lungs and his condition was further aggravated by his poor response to antibiotic treatment.

This time, Tan didn’t choose to move to the intensive care unit (ICU). Instead, he spent his last moments peacefully at the hospital. He had submitted an organ donation application to the Red Cross Society of China Shenzhen Branch before he died.

Tan once said that “donating a body can allow my young kid learn about his father’s last contribution to society, hoping this could encourage him to stay tough in his life.”

Tan’s idea to donate his body won support from his family. On March 25, a simple farewell ceremony was held for Tan where he lay calmly in bed, wearing a baseball cap and his favorite hoodie and sneakers. His family, doctors, nurses and staffers from the Red Cross Society of China Shenzhen Branch gathered around his bed and bowed goodbye.

SZU Medical School has handled 689 body donations since the Red Cross Society of China Shenzhen Branch launched body donations in 1999, according to the report.