London Teen, Who Died in Motorbike Crash in Vietnam, Saved 3 Lives with Donated Organs
“Knowing that she is living on through them brings us great comfort,” her mom said
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winding road at ha giang loop in northern vietnam. Credit :
Getty
NEED TO KNOW
Orla Wates died in a motorcycle accident on Vietnam’s Hà Giang Loop on April 2
Wates was 19 and from London, and had plans to attend Durham University in the U.K. after a gap year
Wates’ organs were donated after her tragic death, and saved the lives of three patients at a Vietnamese hospital
A teenage girl from London died in a motorcycle crash on one of Vietnam’s most treacherous roads.
Orla Wates died in the accident on Vietnam’s Hà Giang Loop on April 2, Vietnam News reports. Wates, who was 19, was traveling in Southeast Asia during her gap year and had plans to attend Durham University.
Wates’ parents told the outlet that their late daughter was an organ donor. A representative for Việt Đức University Hospital confirmed to Vietnam News that her organs were used to save the lives of “three critically ill Vietnamese patients.”
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“We believe that if there were a way to give opportunity to others, this is what Orla would have wanted,” her mother Henrietta Wates told the BBC. “Knowing that she is living on through them brings us great comfort.”
“Vietnam was a country she loved and so to give back to Vietnam as well, I think, is very important for us,” her father Andy Wates said in an interview that was shared on the hospital’s social media page, according to The Guardian.
“In the face of profound grief, her family made a deeply compassionate decision that transcended nationality and race — to donate her organs, giving others a chance at life,” the rep for the hospital told Vietnam News. “The act has moved many, as her gift now offers hope to patients suffering from organ failure in Việt Nam.”
“Orla had a sharp wit and lived life to the full,” her parents said in a statement to Vietnam News and the BBC.
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The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been supporting the British family in the wake of Wates’ tragic death. “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Orla Wates, following her tragic death in Vietnam,” a spokesperson for the FCDO told the BBC.
PEOPLE has reached out to a rep for the FCDO. The cause of the motorcycle accident remains under investigation, according to Vietnam News.
Hà Giang Loop is among numerous picturesque popular destinations for tourists in Vietnam, while also posing safety risks. 10,000 people were killed and 16,000 injured in traffic accidents in Vietnam in 2024, according to the BBC.
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