Jeong Ah-young, a child who had been comatose as a result of abuse since she was just days old, died on Wednesday at the age of three. Her organs were donated to four other infants.
She died from a sudden cardiac arrest after having been on a respirator for over three years. Ah-young had been in a coma after sustaining a head trauma in October 2019 at a nursery for infants in Dongrae-gu, eastern Busan.
Ah-young was a victim of serial infant abuse by a nurse in her 30s, who abused 14 babies over 15 days from Oct 5, 2019.
She had violently handled babies, picking them up by one leg. She dropped Ah-young five days after she was born, causing her serious head injuries.
The nurse was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison by the Supreme Court in May.
Ah-young was declared brain dead after her cardiac arrest on Friday. Her family has decided to donate her heart, lungs, liver and kidneys to four other children of similar age.
In interviews on Thursday to local media, the family said they wanted Ah-young to live on in others and for a good cause.
The Korea Organ Donation Agency, which matches organ donors and recipients, released a letter to Ah-young written by her parents.
“Please be born once again as our daughter. We will make many memories together until we all become old. We will hug and say ‘I love you’ often, and sometimes argue at that time,” the letter reads.
The transplants were carried out on Thursday at Pusan National University Hospital in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. (StraitsTimes)