Teenage girl donates liver to save her father

An 18-year-old girl and her father are recovering well after she donated part of her liver to him last October.

The girl and her father visited Shanghai's Zhongshan Hospital on Feb 18 for a follow-up health check, and doctors said that they were both in good condition.

Hailing from Fuzhou in Jiangxi province, the father, surnamed Zhang, was suffering from cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B. Doctors said that a liver transplant was his only shot at survival. Medical checks later found that the girl, a freshman at a regional medical college, was the only eligible liver donor in the family.

"We were shocked and heartbroken when the girl told us her decision," said He Yifeng, deputy director of the hospital's hepatobiliary surgery department. "She just turned 18."

Surgeons spoke to the girl and her family numerous times to ensure that she fully understood her decision to donate part of her liver.

"As a medical student, I know what my choice means," said the girl. "If I don't donate, I can do nothing but watch him die."

After receiving approval from the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, doctors performed the surgery on Oct 12, 2018.

The girl returned to school and the father was discharged one month after the surgery.