MRT assists in matter of life and death

A man desperate to get his mother to the hospital found that he could rely on public transportation on Saturday.

One problem: She had been dead since about 10am that morning.

According to Lin Yu-chao (林尤超), Lin Cheng-yu (林程幽), 71, had been a devout Buddhist and had expressed a wish to donate her organs after her death.

When she passed away on Saturday, the younger Lin called to have an ambulance transport his mother to the hospital.

But when none would come, Lin was forced to take the MRT from Hsintien to Taipei Veterans General Hospital.

"My mother liked taking the MRT," Lin told reporters on Tuesday.

The younger Lin placed his deceased mother in a wheelchair, her face covered with a blanket in order not to frighten other passengers. No one on the train was aware that there was a dead body aboard, he said.

After they arrived at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, surgeons performed the necessary medical procedures so that Lin Cheng-yu could fulfill her wish.

The incident, which was reported by a local TV station on Tuesday, astounded MRT officials, who in response adopted regulations banning the transportation of corpses, urns and coffins on the MRT.

"The transportation of bodies will cause some inconvenience and affect other passengers," said MRT official Chen Chuen-liang (陳椿亮). "We have to say no."

Hospital officials, for their part, found themselves explaining yesterday their failure to send an ambulance to pick up Lin's mother.

They said there was a lack of communication between hospital staff and Lin.

"We received the body and operated after its arrival in a manner which was entirely appropriate," said Shao Ke-yung (邵克勇), deputy director-general of Taipei Veterans General Hospital.

Staff in the hospital's emergency department said they had received a call from Lin at roughly 11am, requesting an ambulance.

But regulations require ambulances not to cross into other jurisdictions in case they are needed to respond to emergencies within their own jurisdiction.

Hsintien is located in Taipei County, while the Taipei Veterans General Hospital is in Taipei City.

Hospital staff had asked Lin to call 119 to request the assistance of hospitals closer to his home.

Lin replied that his mother wished to donate her organs, asked that neurological physician Tsai Ching-biao (蔡清標) prepare for the operation and then simply hung up, according to the hospital.

Sang Ying-ying (桑穎穎), the hospital's chief nurse, said staff were able to identify Lin through calling records.

They tried calling him back to arrange for an ambulance, but "when we called back, no one answered," she said.

Lin arrived with his deceased mother at the hospital at roughly 1:11pm.

Shao said that had hospital staff known that Lin's mother was dead, there would have been no need for Lin to take the MRT.

"If he had told us, we would definitely have sent an ambulance to bring her to the hospital," Shao said.