The family of a young mother who died weeks after giving birth to twins reportedly donated some of her vital organs to four patients who urgently needed organ transplants.

Shao Ziyan gave birth to twin boys on February 23 and has been in a coma since then. On April 15, only 53 days after she went into a coma, her heart reportedly stopped beating and she was pronounced dead.

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Four of her vital organs, her heart, liver and both her kidneys, were donated by her family. These were transplanted to four patients in critical condition. Her corneas were also donated and are waiting to be transplanted to two patients.

Shao was supposed to marry Chen Shanhai, a hairstylist from Jiaxing in Zhejiang province, during the second half of this year after giving birth. However, her pregnancy led to the diagnosis of acute liver enlargement as well as multiple organ failures more than a month before her scheduled delivery.

She was diagnosed with the conditions on February 22 and gave birth to her boys via C-section the following day. Although both Shao and the babies were in critical condition, the twins recovered after being hospitalized for one month.

Shao, on the other hand, stayed in a coma for the remainder of the time until she died. Her family transferred her to a better hospital in Hangzhou in the hopes of getting better but failed. 

According to Shao Wanhua, Ziyan’s father, the decision to donate her organs was a suggestion from her doctors. They said that by donating Ziyan’s organs, she would be able to "continue living" through other people.

“It feels like she is still alive and had never left me," he said.

Organ donations are relatively uncommon in China, where traditional beliefs do not accept the burying of the dead with ‘incomplete’ bodies due to aack of organs.

TagsShao Ziyan, organ transplant, coma