Husband urges wife to go for surgery, donates kidney
By Neo Chai Chin, TODAY | Posted: 26 November 2009 0729 hrs

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SINGAPORE: In 13 years of marriage, Mr Teo Eng Hong has never given his wife a rose. But recently the store clerk gave her something much better - his kidney.

Mr Teo, 51, is the first organ donor to be reimbursed under the amended Human Organ Transplant Act, which kicked in this month to allow compensation for donors' transplant-related expenses.

The transplant was done on November 9, and on Wednesday, Mr Teo and his wife, Cheok Huey, spoke to the media for the first time about their experience.

Mr Teo wanted his wife to have his kidney since she began dialysis four years ago. Worried about undergoing surgery, she repeatedly rejected his offer.

"But he kept encouraging me, and in the end I accepted it," the petite 50-year-old housewife said in Mandarin.

Her husband, who described her as a good cook, said: "I wanted to give her the kidney while I am still healthy."

The couple, who have no children, started out as pen-pals in the 1970s before marrying in 1996. Both are recovering well from their surgery.

Mrs Teo's six siblings were also willing to donate a kidney should Mr Teo be found incompatible, said her youngest sister, Ms Yvonne Leow.

Mr Teo remains the only person benefiting from National Kidney Foundation's (NKF) Kidney Live Donor Support Fund. No other application has been received, said NKF chairman Gerard Ee.

The S$10-million fund reimburses needy donors' lost income for up to S$5,000, medical follow-ups, and insurance coverage of S$100,000 against death, total and permanent disability, and critical illnesses.

Mr Ee acknowledged that organ donation was a tough decision, but said: "I wonder why in more families, people are not doing it.

Money is already not a consideration. The main reason why you would want to give one of your organs to your siblings or loved one is because you love them."

There are currently over 500 people on the waitlist to receive a kidney transplant, and the average waiting time is 9.5 years.

Interestingly, the eight spousal kidney transplants performed at the NUH this year were all husbands donating to their wives, said Professor A Vathsala, NUH's director of the adult renal transplantation programme.

Worldwide, women make up six in 10 donors on average. The NUH has performed 36 adult kidney transplants this year, of which 17 were living donor transplants, said Prof Vathsala.

- TODAY/sc