Global Courant
SEOUL – Jeong Ah-young, a child who had been in a coma since birth due to abuse, died on Wednesday at the age of three. Her organs were donated to four other babies.
She died of sudden cardiac arrest after being on a ventilator for more than three years. Ah-young was in a coma after suffering a head trauma in October 2019 at a daycare center in Dongrae-gu, eastern Busan.
Ah-young was a victim of repeated baby abuse by a nurse in her 30s, who abused 14 babies over 15 days as of October 5, 2019.
She had handled babies violently, picking them up by one leg. She dropped Ah-young five days after she was born, causing a serious head injury.
The nurse was sentenced to six years in prison by the Supreme Court in May.
Ah-young was declared brain dead on Friday after her cardiac arrest. Her family has decided to donate her heart, lungs, liver and kidneys to four other children of the same age.
In interviews with local media on Thursday, the family said they wanted Ah-young to live on in others and for a good cause.
The Korea Organ Donation Agency, which matches organ donors and recipients, has issued a letter to Ah-young written by her parents.
“Please be born again as our daughter. We will make many memories together until we all grow old. We will hug and say ‘I love you’ many times, and then we will fight sometimes,” the letter reads.
The transplants were performed Thursday at Pusan National University Hospital in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang province. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
