Granny, 75, Donates Kidney to Save Daughter

A 75-year-old Singaporean woman has donated one of her kidneys to save her ailing daughter's life, becoming the city-state's oldest living organ donor, hospital officials said Thursday.

The Singapore General Hospital, where the surgery took place two months ago, said Chee Leng Yin and her daughter Shirley Lau, 46, had both recovered from their operations.

But the transplant almost did not take place because Chee's daughter was afraid her mother was too old to undergo an operation.

"I had to scold and persuade her. You have to accept. I am so old, it's okay," Chee was quoted as saying by The Straits Times newspaper.

"You're still so young and have a long way to go," the grandmother recalled telling her daughter.

Chee is now back to her daily routine of going to the market, cooking and performing her morning exercises.

Her daughter, a freelance book-keeper, was diagnosed in 2003 with chronic kidney dysfunction and her illness slowly deteriorated toward end-stage kidney failure.

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"I was worried about her age but she convinced me to let her go through the tests... I did not think she would pass," Lau told the newspaper.

Chee, who also has two sons, was the only family member found suitable to be a kidney donor for her daughter, the hospital statement said.

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According to the hospital, 1,000 people in Singapore suffer from kidney failure every year and there are over 500 people on the donor waiting list.

Source-AFP
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