Students from some of the city's top medical schools line up at Fushouyuan Cemetery yesterday to remember those who gave their bodies, or parts of them, to science.(Wang Rongjiang)
Yang Jianqing, whose husband's body was donated for scientific research after his death three years ago, stood in front of a monument at the Fushouyuan Cemetery yesterday playing her late spouse's favorite songs.
The monument is carved with the names of everyone who has donated organs or left their remains to science in Shanghai. Every time Yang goes there, she plays the music her husband used to like.
"I believe he can hear the music, and I believe he is glad that his last wish was fulfilled," Yang said.
Yesterday was the 14th "body donation memorial day" in Shanghai.
A total of 2,466 people registered to donate their organs in Shanghai last year, and 736 organs and corneas were harvested.
Shanghai in 1982 became the first city in China to begin collecting human organs and corneas for medical research and transplants. Since then, 41,170 people have signed up as donors, and organs from 8,770 people have been harvested.
A third of all organ donors across China come from Shanghai and two thirds of all donations made have been from the city's residents.
Yang's husband died from intestinal cancer in 2013 at the age of 62. He registered to donate his body to Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University for medical research about six weeks before his death.
"My husband thought a lot about life when he was in hospital, and he hoped that by donating his body a cure for the disease might be found," Yang said.
The unnamed husband was a doctor in his early career before becoming an office director at a local art group.
"He loved music and copied some of his favorite songs on to the player. These songs were played in the last minutes of his life," Yang said.
"When he told us he wanted to donate his body, we were surprised and struggled to come to terms with the idea at first," she said
"But then we got used to the idea and decided to respect his wishes," Yang said.
"His mind was clear even in the last days of his life and he died in peace," she said.
Chen Xiuju, who lives in Jiading District said she has registered to donate her body when she dies.
She said her son's body was also donated when he "died from a disease" at the age of 30 in 2007.
"Our family received a lot of financial support from people when he was in hospital, and my son wanted to donate his body as a way of saying thanks," Chen said.
"His father expressed strong opposition at that time, but my son told him that he could not rest in peace if his last wish was not fulfilled," she said.
Body donation requires the agreement of all immediate relatives of the dead. If any relative refuses to sign, the donation cannot be made.
"We leave nothing after cremation except ash, and body donation can at least make some contribution to others," Chen said.
Gao Xia, another registered donor, works at the Jinshan District Center for Disease Control and Prevention. She once studied at the West China Center of Medical Sciences of Sichuan University.
"I made the decision because the body is so precious and in short supply," she said, adding that medical students "have to share them."
Gao and her husband have signed up to donate their bodies and as they have no children there will be no problems.
Gao's mother-in-law also donated her cornea after death. Gao is a member of a volunteer association of body donation in Jinshan District.
"Social acceptance is rising, but the traditional belief that people can only rest in peace after they are buried is still deeply rooted," she said.
The Shanghai branch of Red Cross Society of China said the average age of donors is falling, with some people in their 30s and 40s signing up. In the past, most donors were in their 50s or 60s.
Meanwhile, the number of people who donated their organs last year more than doubled from 2014, the Shanghai branch of Red Cross Society of China said.
However, there is still a shortfall, as the national health authority banned the use of organs harvested from executed prisoners at the start of last year.
Former Health Minister Huang Jiefu said earlier that China has the lowest organ donation rate in the world, at 0.6 donors for every million citizens. In comparison, Spain has 37 donors per million.
