"My Two Sons Deeply Admire Their Dad"... Teacher Who Stood at the Blackboard for 26 Years Saves Five Lives Through Organ Donation [Warm and Fuzzy]

[Financial News] A teacher in his 50s who devoted 26 years to his students and the classroom has given five people a new lease on life through organ donation after being declared brain-dead.

According to KOTRY on the 20th, Yang Seong-woo, 52, donated his heart, lungs, liver and both kidneys at Cheju Halla General Hospital on the 6th, saving five lives before passing away. He also donated his skin as tissue.
Yang collapsed from a cerebral hemorrhage in 2024 and improved after treatment, but was diagnosed with the early stage of a cerebral infarction in late April this year. While continuing rehabilitation, he suddenly collapsed again on the 31st of last month and was taken to the hospital. Despite surgery and treatment, he never regained consciousness and was eventually declared brain-dead.
His family decided to donate his organs, remembering a life spent helping and considering others. His wife, Kang San-ju, said, "My husband wanted to have a positive impact on others, and if he had been conscious, he would have chosen organ donation. I think he would have been happy knowing he could give someone life before he left us."
Born as the youngest of two sons and two daughters in Jeju Province, Yang began his teaching career at an elementary school in Seogwipo City in 2000 and remained in the classroom for 26 years. He cared deeply for children, especially those from financially difficult homes or those who struggled to fit in with friends. He would make sure students had meals and even went out personally to find students who had run away from home.
After becoming an elementary school principal through a public recruitment process in 2024, Yang stepped down from the post following a cerebral hemorrhage. Determined to teach children again, he devoted himself to rehabilitation and returned to the classroom as a regular teacher in September 2025. Even while receiving treatment after work, he prepared lessons for the next day. He later took medical leave again in June this year, but continued treatment and exercise with the goal of seeing his students.

To his family, Yang was a loving husband and a father who felt like a friend. Every season, he would take his two sons to the mountains and the sea. He cherished every relationship he formed and maintained long-lasting ties with the people around him. Many former students, fellow teachers and parents came to pay their respects on his final journey, and more than 150 people attended the funeral to mourn his death.
His wife, Kang, said her final goodbye to him, saying, "Thank you for loving me and cherishing me. I was truly happy to have met you. Now, please enjoy soccer, travel freely, and live with a smile in a place without pain. I will do my best to become a mother our two sons can be proud of. Our boys love and respect their kind and wonderful father very much."

[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter