Raelynn Mak, 14

School: Bedok South Secondary School

Topic: Two interviews with a donor family

Award: High Distinction, Junior Category, 2025

Healing Through Giving: An Article About Love, Loss and the Gift of Life 

When Pauline Lee finally had the chance to meet the girl who received her daughter’s heart, she asked one simple question. 

“Can I hear it?” 

She leaned in and placed her ears gently against the girl’s small chest and closed her eyes. What she heard was not just a heartbeat. It was her daughter, Charlotte, who lost her life two years ago and yet, still there. 

“That moment changed my life forever.” She said with tears welling up in her eyes. 

It has been two years since Charlotte Lee, 23, died in a car accident. When her family members gathered in her ward waiting for the last moment of her life to come to an end. They recalled the grief they felt and the impossible choice whether to honour the check box on her Organ Donation Pledge Form. 

Back then, days after the crash, the Lee family were not sure if they were willing to do it. Now they speak with a kind of clarity that only time and a deeply personal journey can bring. 

This is a story told three months apart: a portrait of their family shaped by tragedy, guided by love, and transformed by the lives that their daughter saved. 

2025 January: In the Wake of Loss 

In the first interview, solemnness filled the air of the Lee’s home. The picture frames of Charlotte that were hanging on the walls looked recent, like she just took them. Her bedroom with pink curtains and a perfectly made bed was untouched. Her mother, Pauline and her father, Mark, struggled to speak without tears. 

“I remember the doctor questioning us if we knew that Charlotte wanted to be an organ donor,” Pauline said. “We said we knew but hearing those words made it real in a way nothing else had.” 

Mark at that time admitted that he hesitated, “I could not afford to think of someone cutting into my daughter, let alone the fact that I couldn’t accept the passing of my daughter.” 

But ultimately, they agreed, “That was what she wanted,” Pauline said emotionally.  “Charlotte has always wanted to help people since she was young.” 

Charlotte donated her heart, lungs and kidneys. She saved three lucky individuals’ lives. 

2025 March: Grief Fades, Purpose Evolves 

Three months later, the Lee’s home feels different. The pain is still there but since that day in the hospital, the family has heard from several of the recipients and their families. Letters came first — carefully written, emotional, anonymous. But then came a call. One recipient’s family wanted to meet: the parents of the little girl who received Charlotte’s heart. 

“They said she was doing well,” Mark said. “That she was running, playing, laughing. Living. Because of Charlotte.” 

The meeting was emotional, surreal, and healing. For Pauline, hearing her daughter’s heartbeat in someone else’s chest was a moment of connection she will never forget. 

“I felt her,” she said. “Not in a spiritual sense — literally. Physically. It was Charlotte.” 

The Impact: Far Beyond the Family 

What began as an act of love has rippled outward. Inspired by the Lee’s story, dozens of local teens have signed up as donors. A local high school now hosts “Charlotte’s Day,” an annual organ donation awareness event. The family has become a powerful voice in the donation community — appearing at medical conferences, speaking in classrooms, and partnering with national organisations to promote awareness. “We didn’t set out to become spokespeople,” Mark said. “But when you see what one decision can do — not just for recipients, but for the family left behind — you realise people need to hear this.” 

Their message is not just about registering as a donor. It is about starting conversations while you are still alive — about wishes, about legacy, about love. 

“Charlotte made it easy for us,” Pauline added. “She told us what she wanted. We just had to be brave enough to follow through.” 

A Story in Two Parts 

Looking back, the contrast between the family we met in January 2025 and the one we spoke with in March is profound. Three months ago, they were grieving parents, clinging to memories. Now, they are storytellers and healers, carrying their daughter’s legacy forward. 

Their motivation has not changed — it was always love for Charlotte. But their understanding of what they gave, and what they received, has deepened. “People talk about closure,” Pauline said. “But I do not think that is the right word. There is no closing in this. There is just learning to live with it. And to find meaning where you can.” 

For the Lees, that meaning beats on — in a little girl’s chest, in this life forever changed, and in a small decision made by a 23-year-old who believed that even in death, she could still help someone live.

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2025 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