Dying PhD Student Donates Her Own HEAD to Help Others Suffering from Same Terminal Disease

This is so sad! A doctorate student who is suffering from a terminal disease has decided to donate her head in order to help others who are going through the same disease as her.

According to Next Shark, Lou Tao, who is only 29 this year is facing imminent death ever since she was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2015. However, the Peking University PhD candidate has generously decided that she will donate all her organs after her passing.

She discovered she had the deadly disease in October 2015 when she couldn’t move her toes one day and had been feeling physically weak since August 2015. She underwent several tests and was finally diagnosed with ALS in January last year.

Although she was admitted into intensive care, the aspiring history professor never gave up on her studies, and listened to more than 60 books during her hospitalisation, People’s Daily reported.

Lou wrote her last will when she was still of sound mind and has come to accept her death fully. 

She wrote, “After I pass away, I want to give up my head for medical study and hope motor neuron disease can be overcome soon so that those suffer from this disease can get rid of the pain. Please follow my words: donate all my other organs to patients in need, as long as they can help save lives.”

Her devastated parents have agreed to her will and signed a human organ donation document on her behalf on October 9. Lou has been under deep sedation ever since. Such a generous act! 

The young lady also declared that she did not want a funeral wake but would prefer for her ashes to be scattered in the Yangtze River. She said, “Please let me leave quietly, without a trace, just as if I have never been in this world.”

One of the most poignant sentences she wrote in her will said, “The meaning of life is not determined by how long or short one lives; rather, it is measured by the quality of one’s life,” as her undoubtedly bright future had been cut short abruptly.

Her tragedy and braveness touched many hearts in China where together, her supporters managed to raise 1 million yuan (RM637,940) for her treatment as they hoped that she would make a miracle recovery.

The kind young lady has definitely made her mark on the world and many will remember her bright, smiling face. Our prayers are with you, Lou Tao.

 

Also read: Dying Doctor Selflessly Donates Corneas to Save One Last Patient