Dying Student Wants To Donate Head To Help Others With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

A terminally-ill student in China wants to donate her head to science, in the hopes that other people with the same disease will finally get the cure they need someday.

The dying Ph.D. student wants to help find the cure to the terminal disease she is suffering from which is called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a disease that causes the death of neurons which control voluntary muscles.

It's also called motor neuron disease (MND) and Lou Gehrig's disease.

Lou Tai, a 29-year-old student, has faced imminent death after she was diagnosed with ALS in 2015. Today, she has been under deep sedation since the disease has already taken a toll on her brain and spinal cord.

Her parents have signed a human organ donation document on behalf of Lou, after she decided she wants her head to be donated to medical study.

She hopes that it could shed the light on the disease.

Lou said in her will:

“After I pass away, I want to give up my head for medical study and hope motor neuron disease can be overcome soon so that those suffer from this disease can get rid of the pain.”

Lou first discovered her disease when she could not move one of her toes. She has battled the debilitating effects of the disease ever since.

In her last will, she also said that she doesn’t want a funeral wake when she dies and refused to take any monetary condolences from relatives and friends.

However, her loved ones were able to raise 1-M Chinese yuan for her treatment.

Lou added:

“The meaning of life is not determined by how long or short one lives; rather, it is measured by the quality of one’s life.”

“Please let me leave quietly, without a trace, just as if I have never been in this world.”

ALS is a debilitating disease and today, there is still no cure for the life-threatening condition.