Tan Yee Jie Benjamin, 13

School: Chung Cheng High School (Yishun)

Topic: Letter of appreciation to donor family

Award: Merit, Junior Category, 2021

Dear Mr Ng’s family,

It is with utmost respect that I am writing this letter to express my family’s and my gratitude towards the miracle that happened to my grandmother one year ago. The selfless donation from Mr Ng has allowed my grandmother to have a new lease of life after receiving the cornea transplant one year ago.

Firstly, I would like to express my condolences for the loss of Mr Ng, the donor of the cornea. We were excited for our grandmother when she had a donor that could donate his cornea to her and at the same time, we understood that someone had passed on. It must be a hard time for you to agree on donating his cornea: We will definitely remember his sacrifice fondly.

I would like to thank Mr Ng for his ‘gift’ to my grandmother that gave her a new lease of life. My grandmother’s eyesight was deteriorating that she required urgent attention. In the beginning, we were losing hope after seeing the lengthy waitlist for donors. We were prepared to lose all hope after waiting anxiously for about six months only until the nurse came to ten us the great news of having a donor to donate a cornea to my grandmother. Time flies like an arrow as my grandmother had already recuperated from the cornea transplant one year ago

After regaining her eyesight, she even picked up stitching as her new hobby. She has also started to spend more time with our family by playing games with us and exercising with us at the park every weekend. Her life had changed immensely after receiving the cornea transplant. She now has a positive attitude towards life and we are more than happy to see her being positive and happy every day. Mr Ng’s donation has made a great impact on my grandmother’s life.

We will remember the donor by giving your family a jar of folded paper stars to remember Mr Ng’s selfless donation. We will also carry on the kindness from Mr Ng by lending a helping hand to people who require help from society. He will also be remembered for his courage to donate his cornea to my grandmother.

My family and I are extremely grateful and thankful for the cornea donation. Thank you so much for giving a new lease of life to my grandmother. It has been such a miracle for us. After all, we believe that organ donation will give someone another chance in life and get to see their dreams fulfilled.

Love,
Benjamin

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2021 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 (opens in new tab)