Wed, Apr 05, 2006 page2

• Girl honored for donating liver and saving dad

  OVEREXPOSED While the transplant operation saved her father, the Jhongli resident has less jubilant feelings about all the attention it has generated

  • By Shelley Shan / STAFF REPORTER
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  When Hsu Chih-ching (許芷青), a performer in a Jhongli (中壢) entertainment group, decided to donate 60 percent of her liver to save her seriously ill father, the rest of her family, her employer and her fiance all told her not to do it.

  Afraid that the act might jeopardize her marriage, Hsu's mother and brother tried to talk her out of it, and instead volunteered to donate their own livers.

  Meanwhile, Hsu's employer rejected her application to have unpaid temporary leave. Her fiance also attempted to change her mind.

  "Why does it have to be you? Don't you have other siblings?" he had said.

  Despite such heart-wrenching remarks from her loved ones, Hsu remained determined.

  "You can always start a new relationship," Hsu said, "but you only have one dad."

  Although the liver transplant saved her father's life, it also brought Hsu a lot of suffering.

  Her fiance's unsupportive attitude eventually forced Hsu to break off the relationship. This, despite the fact that their wedding photos had already been taken and a wedding date finalized.

  She also lost her job as a manager in a karaoke bar for taking too many days off work.

  The surgery left a 3cm scar on her abdomen, which would take some time to heal.

  However, her good deed was later acknowledged by the Jhongli City government, which last month honored her with a model resident award.

  Jhongli Mayor Yeh Pu-liang (葉步樑) praised Hsu's selfless character at a ceremony on Tuesday last week.

  Acknowledging that Hsu had lost her husband-to-be because of the liver operation, Yeh made a remark that inadvertently became a notice to bachelors nationwide.

  "I ask all the good guys out there not to give up on such a wonderful girl, who is willing to give her own liver to save her father," he said.

  The mayor added that he would be honored if he could be her matchmaker.

  By last Thursday, Yeh's e-mail account was overwhelmed with inquiries, as thousands of men around the nation responded to the mayor's call.

  Phone lines at the Jhongli City office were also tied up all day by people asking for her contact information. Some even proposed, without even meeting her.

  A librarian working at the city office told the Taipei Times that most of the e-mails were looking for friendship.

  Doctors said the transplant was highly unlikely to jeopardize Hsu's health; a liver can continue to function normally even if over three-quarters of it is removed. Full regeneration can occur within 12 months.

  Hsu, however, does not seem to be flattered by the publicity she has received these past few days.

  She declined to give a full interview to the Taipei Times after seeing coverage of the incident by Chinese-language media, but she did say that the publicity had been tremendously disruptive.

  For one thing, Hsu's new boyfriend had been shocked to hear about her anonymous admirers, creating tension in the couple's new relationship.

  And briefly after the transplant operation, her father caught a fever and re-entered the hospital, where he is still receiving treatment.

  When asked whether the new relationship had the potential to go any further, Hsu gave short answers and said it was stable.

  "We will think about it [marriage] after my father checks out of the hospital," she said, adding that all she wanted was to be left in peace.
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