Phuket girl, 3 years old, honoured as organ donor

The girl, Pitsana ‘Nong Proud’ Charoen, was taken off life support at Vachira Phuket Hospital on Wednesday (Dec 21). She was just three years and two months old.

Services for her are being held at Wat Karon (Wat Suwan Khirikhet) over three days (Dec 21-23). Her remains will be cremated on Christmas Eve, at 2pm tomorrow (Dec 24).

Nong Proud was rushed to hospital after she collapsed while playing. The reason for her collapse remains unclear. However, she never regained consciousness and remained on a ventilator at the hospital.

“She just collapsed while she was running and jumping around. Shock lost consciousness,” her father, Atip Charoen, 34, said yesterday. “She had no congenital diseases,” he added.

“She was always a playful child,” said Nong Proud’s mother, Suthathip Nadon, 39. “She was the heart of the house. A lovely child, a very sweet child… 

“She was cheerful and liked to play with her grandma. If grandma was tired, she would go in and kiss her left and right cheeks and forehead several times. She loved her grandmother the most,” she added.

Ms Suthathip explained that it was the grandmother, Manee Nadon, 59, who came up with the idea for Nong Proud to become an organ donor.

“She came home from the hospital on Sunday night… I didn’t know that this was what she was thinking. We talked about it, and we all agreed in order to help other children,” Ms Suthathip said.

“Although Nong Proud is gone, her eyes are very beautiful. So I thought thye could be useful to others. I want others to see that I don’t want to be in the news. We only thought that we wanted our girl to be an angel in heaven,” she said.

“I feel that those who have donated organs to the Thai Red Cross Society are a blessing,” Mr Atip said.

“I spoke with my mother about this, and we just wanted to do a good thing for other children, and for our young one to receive merit by helping others,” he added.

“I am still grieving the departure of our little one. I still can’t get over the events that happened too quickly. She was a bright, cheerful child, loved by everyone,” he concluded.