Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority is considering seeking help from mainland China in a rare move to find an organ donor for a critically ill 37-year-old local man suffering from severe liver failure.

Choy Shing-fai is in a critical condition in Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam and on the verge of entering hepatic coma, which occurs when severe liver disease triggers a decrease in brain functions.

The authority said it was searching for a suitable donor locally and was also prepared to seek help from the mainland.

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“When a patient on the mainland who is willing to donate organs passes away and there is no suitable recipient locally, arrangements can be made to donate the organs across the border to Hong Kong for matching and transplant, bringing hope for a new lease of life to critically ill patients,” a spokesman said.

He said the authority would submit an application to the relevant regulatory body, ensure all procedures complied with requirements and arrange transplant surgery as soon as possible.

The authority said a transplant was the only hope for critically ill patients with organ failure. It appealed to the public to actively support donations and consider signing up their deceased loved ones as donors.

Choy, who is unmarried and whose mother is his only kin, was first diagnosed with jaundice in 2019. His condition later worsened and resulted in organ failure. His kidneys are also severely impaired.

Choy, whose blood type is A positive, weighs 52.5kg and is 178cm tall. He has been on the liver transplant waiting list since 2022.

His mother was unable to donate and has appealed to the public for help.

“Seeing my son become so ill has made me feel heavy-hearted and helpless. He may be introverted and quiet but he is a very good son who takes his work seriously, has no bad habits and checks on me frequently,” she said.

“I hope he can receive a transplant as soon as possible. I don’t know how else to help him.”

Thirty liver transplants were carried out in Hong Kong last year, but Hospital Authority data showed 81 patients were still waiting for a new liver at the end of December.

According to the Liver Transplant Centre at Queen Mary Hospital, waiting times for a donation can range between one and three years, and 40 per cent of patients die before getting a new liver.

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Department of Health statistics showed that 370,247 people had registered for organ donation as of February 29 this year.

Patients’ rights advocate Tim Pang Hung-cheong said there would be more than 81 people waiting for a liver from either a deceased or living donor, because some patients whose condition was not critical would not be placed on the list.

He said the condition of some patients with liver problems could suddenly become acute and they would require an immediate transplant, but unfortunately finding a match domestically would be challenging in such a short period of time.

“It would be in the patient’s best interest to find a matching donor from the mainland if local ones are not an option,” he said.

Baby Cleo Lai Tsz-hei was the first patient to undergo a heart transplant in Hong Kong with an organ from the mainland at four months old in December 2022.

Following the operation, authorities established a cross-border organ donation and matching mechanism last March, while health minister Lo Chung-mau also revealed that Hong Kong hoped to regularise organ donations with the mainland.

The mechanism will allow organs from the city to be used across the border if there are no suitable matches locally.

Similarly, organs from the mainland could also be considered for use in Hong Kong if there are no suitable matches across the border.

Additional reporting by Fiona Chow