In a feat hospital staff called groundbreaking, more than 50 doctors and nurses at Queen Mary Hospital worked nonstop for 38 hours to transplant two livers, one lung, and one kidney into four gravely ill patients, all sourced from just two deceased donors, with everyone now discharged and recovering well.
The marathon began at 7.30am when retrieval teams fanned out to two Kowloon hospitals where the donors lay.
The organs arrived back at the hospital by midday, triggering a precisely choreographed sequence: the two liver transplants ran side-by-side through the afternoon and wrapped up before 10pm, while the lung and kidney procedures followed later that night and into the next day.
Every minute counted, yet every step clicked into place thanks to the seamless handoffs between surgeons, anesthetists, intensive-care specialists, and support crews who readied instruments and monitored patients around the clock.
Among the recipients was 48-year-old Kong, whose liver had ballooned past 10 kilograms with fluid-filled cysts since her 2022 diagnosis, leaving her breathless, unsteady, and unable to work or even walk without toppling in the street.
After three years on the transplant list, the call finally came. She described the moment as nerve-wracking but emerged overjoyed, eager to travel, return to her job, and reclaim the ordinary pleasures she had lost.
Today marks Organ Donation Day, and hospital leaders used the occasion to spotlight the city’s urgent need: more than 2,500 patients currently wait for a lifesaving match.
To shrink that queue, Queen Mary Hospital will move into a new clinical building by year-end, expanding to 24 operating theaters and adding technology such as artificial hearts to keep fragile candidates alive longer.
Staff urged every eligible resident to register as a donor, stressing that one decision can hand multiple strangers a second chance at life.
