About ten years ago, I was both a graduate student studying ophthalmology as well as a medical school resident. One day, the head of the department notified a female colleague and me that a group of criminals was to be executed the following day. This time we were assigned to remove the eyeballs from the criminals, which would be used for cornea transplants.
Not long after I entered the department of ophthalmology, I came to know that the majority of cornea donors were executed criminals. Every doctor in the department, excluding pregnant females, would be assigned to take turns in harvesting the organs at the execution ground. Young doctors and professors alike had done this.
After I received the notification, fear and uneasiness started to slowly grow in my heart. Even at work I felt disturbed. Per the notification, I was supposed to get up early the next morning, so I decided to get off work earlier to rest in the dorm. The female colleague didn't live in the dorm. Because I always overslept, we made an arrangement that she would call me up at the dorm the next morning. But after I returned to the dorm, I was so disturbed that I could not fall asleep in bed. My eyes didn't close the whole night. I couldn't understand why I was this way. It had been over ten years since the first day I entered medical school. I had taken the anatomy class, and during night shifts, I often walked through the big hospital by myself for group consultation, but I had never felt so terrified.
The next morning before dawn, the female colleague and I arrived at the hospital. The doctors from other departments were already there. All of us got in the hospital vehicle and headed towards the execution ground. The vehicle drove through the suburbs, farther and farther, and eventually it arrived at a small hillside. According to the head of the hospital who came along with us, the execution ground was right behind the hillside. Next to our vehicle, there were also a few other vehicles that had parked in front of the hillside. After a while, a few more vehicles arrived. It was said that all the vehicles were from different hospitals that came for organ removal.
A moment later, I heard the police siren far away; it came closer and closer. The person in charge said, "They are coming." He directed young male doctors to carry the stretcher to a place that was even closer to the execution site. After awhile, a group of police holding submachine guns and wearing iron helmets arrived. They formed a circle around the hillside. Another group of policemen without submachine guns arrived and they stood randomly dispersed amongst the police with helmets. Then the criminals, who were completely tied up, were pushed forward. After they arrived at the back of the hillside, a moment later, a few gunshots were heard. Then the bodies of the criminals were carried over on a stretcher. Two were carried to the vehicle I was on. All the doctors got into the vehicle, the vehicle door was locked and the engine started. Someone told us, "Now the vehicle is driving towards the crematory; it takes about half an hour to arrive. Upon arriving at the crematory, the bodies will be carried out for cremation, so everyone has to act quickly."
I started to get puzzled, "Why do we need to be so sneaky? Why are we afraid to let others know?" I was so terrified that my body started shaking, my teeth were grinding as well, but my hands dared not to slow down in removing the eyeballs. The female colleague next to me also started to perform her work. I heard her saying that one bullet went right through the eye, so only one eye was left for use. The body on my side had both eyes without problems. After we quickly completed our work, we both turned our back and only stared at our toes. It was very quiet in the vehicle; occasionally the doctors from other departments would say a few words. We knew roughly how they were progressing. The vehicle moved very slowly, I felt that it took much longer than half an hour to arrive at the crematory. What was carried out was a covered human shape, but everyone knew few organs were left within the body.
On the way back, it was very quiet in the vehicle. Were people terrified, puzzled, or exhausted?
One year later, I got another assignment to do this. This time a male colleague from the same department went with me. I didn't have any less fear just because I already had experience. The night before and after, I still couldn't fall asleep at all.
At that time, there was a joke going around the department. One ophthalmology professor, who was considered very talented, once got assigned to do this. All the doctors were waiting for the organ removal in the vehicle parked next to the execution site. After the gunshots, he fainted first. All the doctors were busy resuscitating him. As a result no one accomplished the task that time. Ever since then, this professor was nicknamed "weak nerves." But because of this, he has never been sent to the execution ground. When I was a graduate student, he was already quite a famous Ph.D. advisor. When I recall that period of time, sometimes I think that if he were not truly weak of nerves, then he must be very wise. Because despite the fact that removing organs from the executed criminals could rescue sick people and could help the criminal a little bit to atone for his crime, the act is still a very horrible thing to do. The disturbance inside oneself will haunt the harvester for a long time.
After I came abroad, I was able to find out that in most cases, removing organs from the executed criminals in China didn't have the consent of the family or the criminal himself. This violation of human rights is so condemned by the Western world, which was why at that time everything was conducted so secretively.
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