Read More

Anonymous liver donor brightens CNY for little Raenelle

SINGAPORE (THE NEW PAPER) - When their daughter Raenelle was diagnosed with biliary atresia - a rare liver disease - at 1½ months old, Ms Vicky Cheng and Mr Roger Wong were devastated. Last September, Raenelle's parents got even worse news - doctors said the 17-month-old had end-stage liver disease and gave her six months to live, unless she could get a liver donor. Dad's liver was not a match and mum was pregnant at the time. So, desperate to find a living donor to save the life of her child, Ms Cheng, a 35-year-old housewife, made an urgent plea on Facebook. On Jan 6, after three heart-rending months, the National University Hospital (NUH) found a match in an anonymous donor. The Transplant Ethics Committee conducted a review of the case on Jan 13 and Raenelle had the surgery on Jan 20. Two weeks after the surgery at NUH, the family's spirits were lifted even further - just in time for Chinese New Year - after she was moved from the high dependency ward to a general ward, where she still is today. Because of confidentiality issues, the family do not know the identity of the donor. Ms Cheng is forever grateful to the "selfless" donor and told The New Paper on Wednesday (Feb 17): "...