Uyen Seivright was born in Vietnam, but she and her family immigrated to Canada in 1979 when she was a young girl. She quickly embraced everything about
her new home. She loved hockey, soccer and Bryan Adams, like many of her Vancouver high school friends. Uyen also adored the NFL and 80s music, two obsessions that stayed with her through her life.
Her nephew Brian Vo was close to his aunt. Uyen’s office was close to Brian’s home and she dropped by for dinner once or twice a week.
“Uyen loved to cook and would bring food all the time. She was a lot of fun. She had no filter. Uyen would be your best friend, giving her heart and trust, unless you crossed a line,” Brian shares with a chuckle.
Uyen had a career in finance. When she wasn’t working, she spent as much time as possible with her family, and she also travelled at every opportunity. Her NFL obsession took her to more than one Superbowl. Just two years ago, Uyen checked off a top item on her bucket list — staying at an elephant sanctuary in Thailand. She loved elephants and her two-week stay was a dream come true. She learned every aspect of caring for elephants. Brian remembers how excited Uyen was as she shared photos from her trip of a lifetime.
In December 2025, Uyen, 56 years old at the time, had a massive stroke while driving. She was rushed to Vancouver General Hospital, but there was nothing that could be done to save her life. When Brian and his family found out Uyen had registered as an organ donor years ago, they were surprised. She had never spoken about organ donation with them. But they were committed to honouring her final wishes. Uyen saved five lives.
Uyen and her family
“We are sad about our loss, but we are more proud of Uyen that she saved five lives,” comments Brian. “What a lasting memory of her. My kids remember Auntie Uyen saved five lives.”
Though Brian says his family doesn’t follow many of the traditional beliefs of his Asian culture, he knows organ donation can be a touchy subject, especially for elders. In jurisdictions where data is tracked by ethnicity, Asians have historically had lower rates of deceased organ donation than Caucasians. This is tied to deeply-rooted Confucian and Taoist beliefs that view the body as a sacred gift from one’s parents and the body should be returned in its original whole state upon death. There are also beliefs about rebirth or the afterlife, which require their loved one to die with their whole body.
“These are not common beliefs in Western culture, but it is a big deal in our culture,” explains Brian. “I can see some people who would be resistant to organ donation because of these beliefs. But I also see that younger generations are more adaptive.”
Brian adds that Uyen was the first person ever in their family to be an organ donor. He says seeing his grandmother pass away from liver failure also gave him and his family a different perspective on the power of organ donation.
“We are open about it and I’m going to register as an organ donor myself. We are gone anyways. It’s just the right thing to do. If you are gone, you don’t need your organs.There is no better gift than to give a life.”
At Uyen’s celebration of life, the family shared that Uyen was an organ donor. Brian says many people were happy to hear that a part of Uyen continues to live. He would love to meet the recipients one day, but for now, he wants them to know their gift of life came from a strong, independent woman who was so much fun.
“Losing Uyen is such a sad tragedy. But having such a positive thing be part of our lasting memory of her has really helped our grief. There is no better feeling than knowing she saved five lives.”
—----
Did you know? While anyone can donate an organ to anyone, without a need to match by race or ethnicity, organ transplants are more successful when blood types and tissue markers match closely. This is more common among people with a shared ethnic background. Increasing the diversity of registered donors helps everyone on the wait list find a better, faster match.
