Organ donations eased pain of grieving mother

Tiana choked on a piece of plastic while playing at home on April 9 last year when I was doing housework.

Her heart had stopped, so my husband and I took her to a hospital. Five minutes later, doctors were able to restart her heart, but she had to be place dona ventilator because it was very hard for her to breathe. When she was transferred to Beijing Children's Hospital, she was in very bad condition.

In the following days, we prayed for Tiana, but she was not getting any better and remained unconscious.

Ten days after Tiana was hospitalized, I received a message from an unknown person on my Facebook account asking whether I had considered organ donation.

Although the doctor had told us Tiana was brain dead, I still wanted to wait, hoping that maybe she would recover.

When the doctor told us Tiana was only going to live for three days, my husband agreed to organ donation.

I had registered to be an organ donor when I got a driver's license in the United States when I was 24. I had always been prepared to donate my organs, but never expected to donate my child's.

Tiana's organs were still working, and before they stopped we had to make the decision.

When you give something that somebody really wants, it brings them great joy. We had the precious organs others really needed.

So we told Tiana's doctor of our decision, and he contacted the China Organ Donation Administrative Center. Gao Xinpu, an official at the center, helped us to complete the procedures and provided much spiritual and material support for us.

Tiana's liver and kidneys saved two children who were critically ill, and her corneas were transplanted to a 5-year old girl a few days later, giving her sight.

I knew there is always a need for transplant organs, but wasn't sure whether organ transplants took place in China.

I want to thank the China Organ Donation Administrative Center for the efforts that helped us with the donations.

A year has passed in which I thought I would have been in a dreadful state, crying each day and being argumentative.

Instead, I am OK.... I enjoy the weather. I remember again that life is short. I smell the flowers and love them more.

I think Tiana is among us. We always remember her and talk about her as if she is still with us.

A year after her 7-month-old daughter died, Daviana Winger, who is from Argentina and lives in Beijing, is still attempting to cope with her grief. But it is a grief mixed with joy and hope, as her daughter's donated organs saved three other children.