Seeking permission is an art

Early this month, a woman in Hubei province collapsed from a stroke — a burst blood vessel in her brain. In the ambulance, her daughter was asked an urgent question: Would she be willing to donate her mother’s organs if the womandied?

Two hours later, the daughter signed an agreement and handed the permission paper toWu Di, the organ donation coordinator atWuhan Tongji Hospital, which has performed 329 organ transplants since early 2013, ranking second nationwide.

As the hospital’s first organ donation coordinator, the 28-year-old has handled more than 100 cases in recent years.

“I think my work is so meaningful,” she said. “Organ donation is a way to prolong one’s life. It means rebirth and continuation.”

In 2011, Wu graduated from Hubei University of Police. Though she majored in law, she didn’ t want to be a civil servant. Instead, she landed a job as an organ donation coordinator. Her main task is to encourage the relatives of potential donors and clear the way for the procedures.

It is a new profession inChina, with the first such positions created in 2010, whenan organ donation system was introduced nationwide.

“A strong curiosity drove me to take this position,” Wu said. “Someone always has to be first, and I believed that ‘someone’ should be me.”

The first fewyears of professional life were difficult, since she lacked experience. Her memory is filled with moments of feeling misunderstood, even reviled.

In 2013, a young man was diagnosed as brain dead after a car accident. Connected to a life-support machine, he barely held on. Wu suggested to his mother that she donate his organs, but the woman shouted at her.

“I gradually came to understand that a successful coordination depends on the timing of the conversation. The moment of just losing someone is definitely not the best choice,” Wu said.

Now, talking to bereaved families is no longer uncomfortable. But after years of dealing with people at the boundaryof lifeanddeath, Wu sometimes gets depressed by the lives lost, the tears and the daily moments of heartbreak.

She said organ coordination requires time. “But the time is very limited. If we miss the first few hours after the declaration of death, transplants can be rendered impossible.”

The hopes of potential organ recipients waiting for a chance to survive can also add stress. “But the success of every transplant surgery is like a quick shot of energy to me,” she said. “A life can be saved thanks to a donation. Those tears and happy endings make the work really significant.”