A 20-something nursery school teacher, who was set to get married next January, saved five lives through brain-dead organ donation.
The Korea Organ Tissue Donation Agency revealed that on the 27th of last month, Lee Seul-bi (29) donated her heart, lungs, liver, and both kidneys at Yeungnam University Hospital.
Lee had collapsed and lost consciousness in her car while heading to her hometown during the Lunar New Year holidays on January 28. Despite medical treatment after being transported to the hospital, she did not regain consciousness.
Lee’s family found it difficult to accept the diagnosis that recovery was impossible, but with the hope that their loved one would perform a good deed by saving someone else’s life instead of departing in suffering, they decided to go through with the donation.
Born as the youngest of one son and one daughter in Daegu, Lee was described as bright and cheerful, and a good and pure daughter who never worried her parents.
She loved children from a young age, dreamed of becoming a teacher, and after graduating with a major in Child Studies, worked as a nursery school teacher. She was so dedicated that she never took a break from work, and was a warm-hearted teacher who was more affected than anyone else when a child got hurt or cried.
She had promised to marry her boyfriend next January and was dreaming of a happy married life.
Lee’s mother, Kwon Young-sook, bid her final farewell by saying, “My daughter Seul-bi, you were the joy and greatest happiness of my life. Seul-bi, set aside all your pain and freely travel the world happily. Let’s meet again one day. I love you.”