UK teen who died in motorbike crash in Vietnam saved 3 lives with donated organs

The parents of 19-year-old Orla Wates, who died from an accident in northern Vietnam, have donated her organs to three Vietnamese patients in desperate need of transplants in Hanoi.

"We believe that if there were a way to give opportunity to others, this is what Orla would have wanted. Knowing that she is living on through them brings us great comfort," foreign media quoted her mother Henrietta Wates as saying.

At an appreciation ceremony organized by Viet Duc Friendship Hospital on Wednesday to thank the family for the donation, her father Andy Wates said: “From our perspective, absolutely what we wanted, and I know that's really, really what Orla wanted. So we leave Vietnam with very sad memories on the one hand but with much hope on the other.”

He told the hospital his daughter had loved Vietnam and so to give back to the nation was "very important" to his family.

Orla Wates, from London, was travelling the Ha Giang Loop in northern Vietnam when she fell from the back of a motorcycle. She was in the Southeast Asian country on a gap year before starting a degree at Durham University.

She was taken to Hanoi's Viet Duc Friendship Hospital. Orla Wates died on April 2, with her parents at her bedside.

Orla was the daughter of Andrew Wates, director of Wates Group, a multi-billion pound family-owned construction firm. She had three siblings.

Dr Duong Duc Hung, director of Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, said the patients who had received the transplanted organs are all recovering well.

“We fully understand that the passing of your daughter is an immense and heartbreaking loss for your family. Yet, in the midst of such profound grief, you made a remarkably humanitarian decision – one that has given other patients a renewed chance at life.

“We know that making such a decision at a time like this is incredibly difficult. Despite the distance between us, we are connected by shared human values, compassion, and empathy. Your choice is a truly noble one, offering hope to many patients with end-stage organ failure and allowing life to continue in others," he was quoted by Vietnam News Agency (VNA) as saying.

This is the first time organs have been donated from a foreign citizen to a Vietnamese hospital, according to VNA.

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan wrote a letter to the family, thanking them for their decision to donate their daughter’s organs.

“This represents one of the first cases of multi-organ donation from a foreign citizen to Vietnamese hospitals. In particular, it carries special significance, affirming the universal value of humanity while further strengthening the solidarity and mutual trust between the people of Vietnam and the United Kingdom," she wrote.

“We sincerely acknowledge, deeply appreciate, and express our heartfelt gratitude for your family’s noble gesture. This profound sacrifice will always be honored and remembered. Your daughter’s legacy will continue to live on through those who have received her organs and in the hearts of the Vietnamese people.”

Ha Giang, a mountainous province in northern Vietnam, is one of the country's top tourist attactions. The province is famous for its beautiful but dangerous roads.