One signature can save 4 lives

NST: MAZLAN Hassan is a familiar face at talks arranged by the National Heart Institute, (IJN) and the Health Ministry. When he takes the stage, he tells people why they should sign a pledge to give their organs should they die.
He is alive today because someone made that pledge.
"I hope that by sharing what I went through, I can reach out to others and encourage them to fill in an organ donor form.
"People need to know that three or four lives can be saved by just one donor who pledges his heart, lungs, kidneys, eyes and other organs," he said.
Five years ago, Mazlan was diagnosed with heart failure.
He did not smoke and led a relatively healthy life, but he believes heart disease runs in his family. He had already lost his father and younger sister to it.
At 39, he all but gave up on life. Weak and easily tired, he could not eat.
"Sleeping was a nightmare, every time I lay down, I felt as if I was drowning, I couldn't breathe," he said.
IJN doctors said his only hope was a heart transplant.
"When I heard that, I lost all hope. I knew how hard it is to get suitable heart donors," said Mazlan.
At one point, he thought it would be better if he just died.
It was his wife Fazidah Hamid, 41, who anchored him, and helped him through the storm of pain and depression.
"She was really patient."
Then came a second chance at life for this father of three young boys.
Spared the lengthy and agonising wait that many others endure, Mazlan had a match to a suitable donor after just eight months.
Three weeks after the successful transplant on July 14, 2001, he was allowed to go home, and four years down the road he remains in good health.
For the rest of his life, he must take medicine to prevent his body from rejecting the heart he was given. But that's a small price for Mazlan, now 44, to pay.
He wants to watch his sons Mohd Nazrin, 14, Mohd Nazim, 10, and Mohd Haziq, 7, grow up into young men.
"I want them to be successful of course, but more importantly, I want them to be good human beings."