Touching lives
Just days before 2008 ended, Gwen’s young life was cut short by a congenital
disease. But a belief that the 16-year-old would have wanted to help others even
as death faced her led her parents to donate her organs. To the eight people
who received them, Gwen was the angel who touched their lives – and gave
them the gift of hope as a new year was beginning.
“MUST learn French.”
“Must study in Australia and Europe.”
“Must learn to ski in Korea.”
“Must go holiday in Antarctica and
learn to build igloos and snowmen.”
“Then settle down in Canada.”
The wonders of the world reached
out to Gwen Tan. But the young girl,
poised on the cusp of teenhood, would
not have known that in just another few
years, those dreams would quickly slip
away from her grasp.
On a hot December day last year, the
vivacious 16-year-old, a triple Science
student of a top school, would fi nd herself
suddenly collapsed in a train station,
slipped into a coma, and days later,
was pronounced brain dead.
The cause: Cerebral Arteriovenous
Malformation (AVM), a congenital
disorder that interrupts blood fl ow in
the brain due to abnormal connections
between arteries and veins. In Gwen’s
case, the disorder sent a massive blood
clot to her brain.
Yet the promise of a young life cut
short would not end at death - but has
led to a new beginning for many others.
The belief that Gwen would have
wanted to help others led her parents to
off er her heart, liver, kidneys, lungs and
corneas for donation, giving a new life to
eight people.
The recipients - fi ve men, two women
and a little girl - came from diverse
backgrounds. One was as old as 61 and
the youngest was three. Several were
single, a few were married with children.
Some had waited for years. The two men
who received her kidneys each waited over
seven years, while the child – born with a
rare life-threatening condition – waited
one-and-a-half years.
Th e lung recipient was able to sit
upright, a day after his operation,
smiling and waving to visitors. Th e
split liver transplant was successful, a
feat not repeated since more than eight
years ago.
“I told myself that everyone has
a mission in life. For Gwen, it is
probably to save that little girl,” said
mother Mrs Tan.
“I believe she would be happy to know
that the act has transformed the lives of
so many people. It was her nature to do
so. She lived her life to the fullest and
that was our consolation.”
AVM silently waiting
Brain AVM often
shows no symptoms
until the tangle of
dilated blood vessels
rupture to cause a
haemorrhage.
On the morning
of Dec 20, mother and
daughter were on a bus.
Mrs Tan showed Gwen
a news article, to which
she replied “You know I
can’t read on the bus. I get a
headache.” Little did Mrs Tan
know that the complaint was to
be her daughter’s last words.
Later on a train, Gwen began
to show signs of discomfort, and
developed a headache. Th e pain seemed
quite severe. “I tried to massage her head
but she stopped me,” said Mrs Tan.
Other than mild childhood asthma
and occasional nosebleeds due to a
thin nose membrane, Gwen had always
seemed healthy. Mrs Tan didn’t feel too
worried at that point, and decided to take
her daughter to a clinic. She was given an
injection and medicine for giddiness and
vomiting.
By the time her husband, an engineer,
arrived at the clinic to take them home,
Gwen was no longer able to see things
clearly.
Her elder sister Jane opened the gate
for her and she bumped against it. “You
can’t see properly ah?’ Gwen just smiled
and went to bed,” said Mrs Tan.
Late that night, Gwen vomited again.
Her parents decided to send her to the
hospital.
A computer tomography (CT) scan
showed a massive blood clot in the left
lower back of her head. Th e doctors
suspected AVM and transferred her to
the intensive care unit at around 1am.
She was hooked up to machines to
induce coma, so as to minimise her brain
activities.
Th e next morning, Gwen had a probe
inserted into her forehead to monitor
intracranial pressure. Doctors said her
condition had stabilised.
But the respite did not last. Overnight,
the pressure shot up. An emergency
procedure was done to remove part of
her skull to relieve pressure on her brain.
Farewell to a well-loved friend
Th e neurosurgeon told Mrs Tan that
part of her left brain was damaged – the
part that controls speech, vision and
psychomotor skills.
Th at afternoon, a senior neurosurgeon
showed them a scan of another abnormal
artery vein at the top of her head. Th e
bed of capillaries connecting the artery
to the vein was not formed.
“According to him, she was like a
walking time bomb. As the high-pressure
blood acts on the vein, the thin wall of the
vein is being stretched. It’s only a matter
of time before it burst,” said Mrs Tan.
Another consultant told them that
Gwen would “be gone” the moment she
was taken off the life support machine.
On Dec 24, Mrs Tan informed Gwen’s
classmates of her critical condition.
An outgoing and sporty student,
Gwen was well-loved by friends. She
played the clarinet for the school band
and trained with the badminton as well
as soccer teams at her secondary schools.
She would sometimes stay up till 1am to
complete her schoolwork, waking up for
school at 6.30am the next day. To top it
off , she occasionally volunteered to tutor
under-privileged kids and for charity
organisations.
“She was a lively, cheerful and
thoughtful person, always remembering
friends’ birthdays, taking care to buy and
wrap gifts, adding a drawing or note,”
her mum said.
Dozens of Gwen’s schoolmates
visited, along with their parents and
teachers, fi lling her hospital room with
cards, presents and a softboard with
drawings and get-well messages. They
prayed hard. They prayed for a speedy
and complete recovery. They prayed
for a miracle to happen.
“Question is not why we donated…”
On Dec 25, the doctors told
the Tans that they had done their
best. Her hormones had become
imbalanced – a sign the brain had
lost its function. The following night,
Gwen was certifi ed brain dead.
As Gwen was under 18 years of
age, she did not fall under either
the Human Organ Transplant Act
(HOTA) nor the Medical Therapy,
Education and Research Act
(MTERA), which allows for organs
to be recovered in the event of death.
It was up to her family to donate
her organs.
“Whenever we hear that a
donor’s organ is available, we
get very excited for our patients
who have been on waiting lists,
some for years. When we’re
activated (for a transplant
surgery), we drop our routine
work to concentrate on the case.
Th e gift of a transplant organ
is second to none for these
patients - their lives are centred
on this one phone call.” - Dr Tan Yu Meng, Surgical
Director, Liver Translant Programme,
Department of General Surgery, SGH
But the thought of removing Gwen’s
organs distressed the family. Th e family
consulted a shifu – a Buddhist nun – and
she explained the nobility of the deed.
“We initially felt that it was too cruel
to remove the organs. A long cut has to
be made from the chest all the way to
the abdomen,” said Mrs Tan.
“But the question is not why we
donated. Rather, it is how we would feel
if we didn’t donate, knowing that many
are suff ering from organ failure. We felt
it was something good that we could do
on Gwen’s behalf.”
The Tans signed the donation papers
on Dec 26 – coincidentally, a day rooted
in the Christian tradition of giving gifts
to the less fortunate.
“As she was wheeled into the
operating theatre, we told her that we
were donating her organs and not to
fear the operation.”
It was only after the procedure that
the family knew that Gwen’s donation
would benefi t eight people.
Cremation was held on a weekday.
Many family members, her classmates,
temple volunteers and well-wishers
crowded into Bright Hill Crematorium
to see her for the last time.
Today, the Tans continue to grieve
their loss. In particular, Mr Tan, who
used to drive Gwen to and from school
every day, misses her greatly. Friends and
neighbours share their grief. “Call me if
you need to talk. I will stop whatever
I’m doing and give you my time,” said
June, a close friend of Mrs Tan.
During the Lunar New Year,
the family went to watch a fi lm, a
yearly routine. “There happened to
be a vacant seat next to my husband.
Filled with emotion, he said the seat
was supposed to be for Gwen,” said
Mrs Tan.
The family is starting to come to
terms with their beloved daughter’s
departure. Mrs Tan who used to have
vivid dreams about Gwen said she is
getting fewer such dreams in recent
months. The family has donated
much of Gwen’s clothes, shoes and
accessories to the Salvation Army but
is reluctant to make changes to her
room. Jane wants to keep her younger
sister’s soft toy piglet and doggie a
little longer.
The family has also grown closer.
Buddhists, they go for chanting
sessions together every Tuesday night
at a nearby temple.
“She was an angel who couldn’t
even kill an ant. We love her very
much. We hope to meet each
again at the Western Paradise.”
*Names were changed at the family’s
request for privacy.
:: Secret Lady ::
0 addition on my secret
finally finish my 5 papers... only one word can describe all the papers - BAD!
The first paper is such a disappointing, tot i can score in managerial econ paper but end up screwed up by myself. cant believe i go cancelled the correct ans i have did in some many parts! oh my gosh! and min 12.5 marks gone and tat can determine if i pass this paper lor. sigh. hopefully i can pass... (finger cross!) followed byt the2nd paper on tat day as well.. is much ok but still got hope i can pass. The 3rd paper, MSM tot i can do better but who knows is turn out the other way. arh! actually tat is the only module i have confidence but but... sigh.. dunno hw to say le!(sad). the 4th paper - financial mgmt the module i hate cos i dunno those foreign exchange calculations and the last paper - financial reporting (which is also the killer module) got pattern this year lor. wth! only appear one consol qn!!! sigh... hopefully i can pass all modules. pls!
:: Secret Lady ::
0 addition on my secret