"Mom Did a Great Thing"... A Mother of Two Sons Gives New Life to Six People Before Passing Away

30s Mom Lee Geun-seon with 9- and 10-Year-Old Children
Donates Heart, Lungs, Liver, etc. through Brain Death Organ Donation

A mother in her 30s with 9- and 10-year-old children gifted new life to six people through brain-death organ donation and passed away.

On the 1st, the Korea Organ and Tissue Donation Agency announced that on the 5th of last month, Lee Geun-seon (38) donated her heart, lungs, liver, both kidneys, and eyes to six people through brain-death organ donation at Samsung Seoul Hospital.

The late Lee Geun-seon (right). [Image provided by Korea Organ Donation Agency]

Lee underwent pituitary tumor removal surgery in 2014 and was declared fully recovered in April. However, on the 1st of last month, she collapsed at home, was found by her children, and was transported to the emergency room but fell into a brain-dead state.

It is known that Lee’s entire family had registered with the donation agency in 2006 to donate organs and human tissues after brain death or death, promising to share life. Lee’s husband, Kim Hee-su, and other bereaved family members agreed to the donation, hoping that she would do good deeds and continue life in others’ bodies rather than becoming ashes. They wanted to tell their children that "Mom is saving someone else and is together somewhere."

When Lee’s daughter tearfully asked, "What will happen when Mom goes to heaven?" the family replied, "Mom is going to heaven, but she did a great deed by saving other people’s lives." The family said, "Thinking of Lee, who did a good deed at the painful moment of farewell, brought us comfort."

Born as the eldest daughter of one son and one daughter in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, Lee was cheerful and bright, with a positive personality that made her approach everyone first. She worked in classical composition and piano lessons.

Her husband Kim said to the deceased, "Every moment we spent together was so happy," and gave his final farewell, saying, "Please wait until I come to see you again. Until then, I will live happily with the children."