While the shocking death of Kim Pham, the 23-year-old woman who was brutally beaten outside a Santa Ana nightclub, continues to resonate, her tragic end will at least have a life-giving legacy. Her organs have already been donated and used to help sustain the lives of five patients waiting for transplants.
Nightclub victim's organs have 'saved five lives,' agency says
Pham's heart, kidney, lungs, pancreas and liver were donated to patients on the national organ transplant waiting list. She also donated tissues including "skin used for burn dressings, bone to repair fractures and prevent amputations, and bone marrow for orthopedic use."
Pham died of complications from blunt force trauma to the head after she was punched, kicked and knocked to the ground outside a nightclub on January 18. She was declared dead the next day, but remained connected to a ventilator for two more days to make sure her organs would be available for transplantation.
Here's the statement from Pham's family, issued through the non-profit organ recovery group One Legacy:
