Post-mortem report reveals Hui Yi died of heart failure

The Star, Thursday September 20, 2012

By DESIREE TRESA GASPER and LOH FOON FONG
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

BATU PAHAT: A post-mortem report has revealed that miracle girl Tee Hui Yi died from congestive heart failure.

Hui Yi's father Ah Soon, 57, said it did not matter that they were not given details about her death because all the family wanted was to be given time to mourn her untimely passing.

“It is a shame that she is gone especially after she got another chance at life after the transplant,” he said at the Chinese funeral parlour at Jalan Fatimah here yesterday.

Both Ah Soon and Hui Yi's mother Dina Bato Sam Bua, 52, were grateful for the hundreds of calls, messages and visits to the funeral parlour by relatives, loved ones and caring strangers.

We’ll remember you: Dina (centre) along with Hui Yi’s aunt Faridah Sampe (right), cousin Nursyakira Vun Abdullah (left) and her daughters Nursyafiqa and Nursyafinaz paying their last respects to Hui Yi.

 

“I was shocked to see such a large group of people especially on Monday night,” he said, adding that all the family could do was pray for her soul.

Hui Yi, 19, who had survived a double heart transplant in 2007, had complained to her parents that she was having back and chest pains at around 7am on Tuesday when things suddenly turned for the worse.

Her body turned stiff and attempts by her parents to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation failed.

She was pronounced dead after being rushed to the Batu Pahat hospital at 10.02am the same day.

Early yesterday morning, a group of officials from the National Heart Institute also paid their last respects to Hui Yi.

IJN transplant coordinator Sharifah Noraida Syed Nom, who was one of the nurses that took care of Hui Yi throughout her transplants and subsequent check-ups, said that many members of the staff were upset when they found out about her death.

“She was a living medical miracle and we will always miss her happy-go-lucky attitude,” she said.

Meanwhile, in Petaling Jaya, IJN cardiothoracic surgeon Prof Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib, who had performed the heart transplant surgery on Hui Yi together with the team that was headed by chief cardiothoracic surgeon Datuk Dr Mohd Azhari Yakub, said she was the beacon of strength for the team five years ago.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/9/20/nation/12055740&sec=nation

The Star, Thursday September 20, 2012

IJN: Hui Yi was stable during last check-up

PETALING JAYA: Tee Hui Yi's condition had been stable during her last medical check-up at the National Heart Institute (IJN).

In a statement released by IJN yesterday, it said the visit had been on Sept 3 at its transplant outpatient clinic.

It said Hui Yi was continued on her routine medication.

“Over the past four years, Miss Tee had developed episodes of rejections of the new heart and was treated accordingly,” it added.

“In April 2012, she was found to have developed graft coronary artery disease and she was started on treatment for this condition.”

The statement added that according to international data, the most common cause of death for heart transplant recipients between three and five years, were coronary artery disease (14.5%), acute rejection (10.2%) and graft failure (23.1%).

“It is difficult to ascertain the actual cause of death but the most likely possibilities are either cardiac event such as abnormal heart rhythm leading to a loss of blood pressure, graft failure or a spontaneous cerebral-bleed since she was on blood thinners,” it added.

The statement said she would be fondly remembered and greatly missed.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/9/20/nation/12055739&sec=nation

Double heart transplant girl Hui Yi dies

The Star, Wednesday September 19, 2012

By DESIREE TRESA GASPER, MOHD FARHAAN SHAH, LOH FOON FONG and RAHIMY RAHIM
newsdesk@thestar.com.my

BATU PAHAT: Miracle girl Tee Hui Yi, who underwent a double heart transplant in 2007, has died.

The 19-year-old, who had survived with a mechanical heart before the two transplants, died at the Batu Pahat Hospital at 10.02am yesterday the day she was to have started work as a kindergarten teacher.

Hui Yi captured the imagination of the nation when she successfully underwent a second heart transplant within 24 hours on Oct 5, with the media headlining her story.

Miracle girl Tee Hui Yi’s mother mourning her sudden death yesterday at age 19. The plucky teenager, who captured the imagination of the nation when she survived a double heart transplant in 2007, died at the Batu Pahat Hospital the day she was supposed to start work as a kindergarten teacher.

 

The first heart transplant failed but, miraculously, another one became available just then and, this time, her body accepted the heart.

Yesterday, she complained of back and chest pains at about 7am but refused to go to hospital for treatment, her mother, Dina Bato Sam Bua, said.

“She asked me to make her some toasted bread and Horlicks but she only ate one slice and vomited the rest. She made me promise to make her favourite mee suah for her next birthday (on Oct 5).

“Then she said she wanted to rest for a while. The next moment her whole body went stiff,” Dina told reporters at the Chinese funeral parlour in Jalan Fatimah here.

“I tried to press her chest and perform CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) but nothing worked,” said, Dina, 52.

Her husband, Ah Soon, 57, also tried to resuscitate their youngest child but to no avail.

“We rushed her to hospital but doctors pronounced her dead half an hour later,” Dina added.

(Hui Yi's birthday is March 14 but the family decided to change the date to Oct 5 to mark the day that she was “reborn” after the second transplant.)

Dina fainted for a few minutes at the parlour and had to be helped by relatives.

She and her husband, two sons and daughter had looked shocked when reporters approached them.

Clutching a photgraph of Hui Yi, the distraught Dina screamed: “I want my daughter.”

Ah Soon said: “When we knew that Hui Yi was gone, we asked the doctor to save her organs and donate them but he told us that it was too late.”

He said he was grateful to the heart donors who gave his daughter new leases on life and was disappointed that Hui Yi's organs could not be saved.

Ah Soon added: “Hui Yi was supposed to start work at a nearby kindergarten today (yesterday) and was so excited about her new job.

“Now, we can only hold on to memories of our cheerful daughter.”

Hui Yi stopped schooling after Year Four when her health deteriorated and was supported by a mechanical heart while waiting for a transplant.

She underwent her first heart transplant on Oct 4, 2007 but her body rejected the organ and she had to undergo another transplant the next day.

IJN, the National Heart Institute, conveyed its condolences to the family of Hui Yi, who had been fondly known as “the mechanical heart girl”.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, who was the Health Minister at the time, expressed sadness at her passing.

“I would like to offer my condolences to her family. We feel sad as she had gone through so much and finally had a successful heart transplant,” he said.

“She can be described as a tough survivor and fought until the very end.”

 Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/9/19/nation/12049282&sec=nation