The donor must have been declared brain dead, carrying type A or O blood, about 150cm in height and 40 to 50kg in weight.

“Lulu is an energetic and outgoing girl. She rides horses and plays badminton. It broke our hearts to see her, once a chubby girl, losing weight to about 80 pounds (36kg),” her sister Yuki told reporters while sobbing.

Ng was diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disease in 2014 and has received treatment. Three years ago, she was also diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

It is a condition where high pressure is observed in the blood vessels that carry blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs. The disease forces the heart to pump blood to the lungs harder, weakening the heart and resulting in heart failure in the long run.

Ng’s condition deteriorated in March last year, and she was transferred to Grantham Hospital for a lung transplant assessment. She was put on the waiting list by the end of the year.

However, her condition further worsened, and she suffered from heart failure in late June. She is now in the cardiac intensive care unit and is kept alive by cardiac agents, with fluctuating blood pressure and excessive fluid accumulated in her stomach.

The hospital said Ng is in dire need of new lungs and is on the top of the waiting list as she may die of sudden cardiac death any minute.

The hospital added that if her condition worsens, it may trigger a multiple organ failure, and she may miss the best timing for the transplant.

The hospital also cited figures to underline the high survival rate and said 14 lung transplant surgeries (both double lung and single lung) were performed last year.

So far, four double lung surgeries have been conducted this year, with 18 patients on the waiting list.