Nicholas Sim En Jie, 14

School: St. Joseph’s Institution

Topic: Describe how you feel hearing someone close, receiving a heart transplant

Award: Merit, Junior Category, 2023

Love

A whirl of emotions, a conflicted heart. Tears of gratitude flow down my face. All I could acknowledge was the love behind this action of giving. This word, though simple, depicts a deep story of care; a representation of selflessness and sacrifice for the desire to spread joy and fulfilment. Looking at my dad with a new lease of life, I could not help but realise that an action of love caused a ripple effect on a crippled heart.

Heart failure. A continuous torment of my father. Plagued by the never-ending tick of death through the tick of his heart. Slowly but surely, he was losing his groove, his life being sapped away, spirit wavering. This time of darkness and despair for him loomed over our household. A constant worry towards him also afflicted us. Soon enough, his heart was replaced with a mechanical heart, pumping blood and life into him. Yet, this only spelt inconvenience and an anguished stage of his heart failure. He was unable to carry out his normal activities. The inability to provide for his son and family broke his heart. Until a sliver of hope coupled with the hope of love emerged.

Organ donation. The donation of a deceased person’s heart to my father, bringing forth a new purpose in life. Waiting for years it took but we still clung on to that sole hope that someday, a new chance would emerge.

Lo and behold, it finally did. However, the original feelings of joy and compassion turned away as realisation dawned on me that a life had been lost. The hope and joy I was feeling would spell disaster and anguish towards someone else. Yet this chance still was at hand, a chance to get back the devoted father I once had.

Medical assessments and treatments undergone; my father looked me into my eyes. A spark of new hope shimmering bright and held my hand saying, “I’ll make it out”. Watching him pushed into the operating theatre, I could only hear my heart pounding, my eyes watering, my teeth chattering. Silently praying that all would go fine, I could only watch as the family of the deceased victim stood, although clearly still sorrowful about their loss, but filled with compassion. My mind wandered through their sense of responsibility, empathy and altruism to be able to sacrifice their still lingering sense of love towards their daughter to provide compassion towards an unknown family.

But here I was, standing next to my father and thrusted into a tight embrace. I could only let my tears of gratitude flow as I witnessed a brand new him. But of course, that was not all. Knowing the lengths and hardships this family had to undergo to provide for us, we decided that something special had to be done. Similar to what many schools had done, we folded cranes of love, a short note written on each one depicting a sense of compassion and eternal gratitude that this story told.

As I glimpsed upon the last note my father had written, warmth surged through my heart. “I will continue this legacy of your daughter’s heart and live my life to its fullest.”

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2023 are those of the participants and are not endorsed by the National Organ Transplant Unit (Ministry of Health). To learn more about organ donation and organ transplantation in Singapore, please visit www.liveon.gov.sg