Consultant thankful for gift of life 10 years ago

Star: MALACCA: Management consultant Lee Chen Hoe is forever grateful for the kidney and new lease of life he got 10 years ago from an American engineer.
He received the precious gift in 1996 when C.H. Bender, 56, who was hospitalised at a private hospital in Ampang, Selangor, was declared brain dead after suffering a stroke.
Bender's family then decided to donate his kidneys and corneas.
On July 27 that year, kidney transplants were performed on Lee and teacher Azizi Husain, both 48 now, at Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL).
“I am very grateful to Bender and to the nurses and doctors who looked after me. I can never repay them.
“Now I look after myself well and am actively involved in organ donation awareness campaigns and the Green Ribbon Support Group for transplant patients. This is my way of repaying them,” said Lee, a father of twin girls.
In 1999, after completing his Masters in Business Administration, he wrote to Bender’s family to express his gratitude.
“It was like striking a big lottery when I was given the gift of life,” he said.
Lee’s kidneys failed in 1991 – when his daughters were just two-and-a-half years old – and he had to depend on dialysis while waiting for a donor.
He celebrated the 10th anniversary of the transplant with his “twin brother” Azizi as well as HKL's nephrology department head Datuk Dr Zaki Morad Mohd Zaher and urology department head Datuk Dr Sahabudin Raja Mohamed last month.
According to Lee, he has stopped celebrating his birthday but commemorates the transplant date instead these days.
“I look forward to life and I am active in charity work to collect merits,” he said.