A 25-year-old soon-to-be doctor saved his former primary school teacher’s life by donating 67% of his liver in what can be considered a very heroic act.
Jerome Chin bravely volunteered to give part of his liver to his former teacher, Leong Fong Peng, who used to discipline him when he was still studying as a child at Kong Min primary school in Kuantan, Malaysia in 2003, according to The Star.
“She took her cane everywhere and used to discipline me quite a lot,” Chin told the media, jokingly admitting that he once hated her. “I hated the teachers who hit me but after I left school, I started to appreciate those who paid attention to me.”
While that may be the case, Chin still admitted that he was “not one of her best students.”
Chin only found Leong’s severe condition in July from her daughter, Krystal Teh, a primary school friend of the man.
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Eight volunteers already tried testing to see if they were suitable to be the teacher’s donor, but to no avail. Luckily, Chin stepped up and it turned out that he was a suitable donor; however, his father was not entirely on board with his decision.
But being someone who studied medicine in China before graduating in the field in 2017, he was able to convince his father and explain to him very clearly what will happen.
“I told him I studied this, I know what I’m doing, and it will be fine. I think me being in the medical field helped convince him,” Chin said.
Soon after the transplant was done on September 6 at the National University Hospital in Singapore, Chin suffered from a brief spell of jaundice, but he is now on his way to a healthy recovery and expecting his liver to regrow back to its full state in three months’ time.
While he did donate a rather large chunk of his liver to his former primary school teacher, Chin still thinks that what he did is not something a hero would do.
“I was just the right person at the right place at the right time, I have done what I could,” he told the media.
As for Leong, the teacher was reportedly doing well after the surgery, but she was rushed back to the hospital and re-admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for coughing up blood.
Her hospital bill has now nearly reached 300,000 Singaporean dollars ($219,700), but te Nirvana Foundation reportedly raised 100,000 Malaysian ringgit ($24,147) for Leong’s bills as contribution. She now has 90,000 Singaporean dollars ($65,919) left to raise.
However, it was said that the bill could climb even higher due to her recent complications. Those who are willing to donate can do so via account holder Yayasan Nanyang Press at the Hong Leong Bank account number 001-001-81032.
Images screenshot via YouTube / The Star Online
