The mainland neurosurgeon said she would give Constable Jacky Chu Chun-kwok her best shot. 'I have tried to understand his condition via the press. But the actual situation is still unclear, so I need this visit to see him and talk to the doctors here,' Dr Ling said. 'We will try our best and will give our all in helping him.'

Constable Chu has been in a near-vegetative state due to brain damage caused by blood loss since he was stabbed in the neck while on patrol in Cheung Sha Wan last July.

His family said they were overjoyed that Dr Ling promised to treat him. 'We are very happy,' one family member said.

Late last night, after an examination of the constable and discussions with Dr Ling, the chief of the hospital's neurosurgery division, John Kwok Ching-kwong, said the hospital would combine eastern and western methods to treat him, including acupuncture and oxygen therapy in a hyperbaric chamber.

'The most urgent matter is to relieve his muscle strain via massage,' he said, adding that it would mean at least four hours of massage a day.

But the doctors believed Constable Chu's recovery would take at least a few years.

He would remain in Hong Kong and Dr Ling would stay in touch with the hospital's medical staff.

Dr Ling is well known for her dramatic success in treating Phoenix TV news anchor Tanya Liu Hai-jui for brain injuries sustained in a train accident.

She treated the anchorwoman using hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which involves using the gas under high pressure. It is only available in a few centres in Hong Kong, including Prince of Wales Hospital and a medical centre on Stonecutters Island.

Professor Andrew Burd, chief of the division of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Chinese University, said that whether a hyperbaric oxygen chamber could help a patient recover depended on the degree of brain damage.

'So long as it does not cause any harm, there are absolutely good reasons to try because miracles may happen,' he said.

Constable Chu's wife said he was delighted by the visit of Dr Ling, who will leave the city today.

'When I told him Dr Ling is coming tonight, he seemed happy and wanted to talk,' she said. She hoped her husband could recover so the family could eat together but reminded herself not to be 'too excited'. 'It has been nine months now ... there is a chance that he cannot be cured,' she said.

The constable's 60-year-old mother, Lee Lai-hing, said all the family wanted to hear from Dr Ling was that Jacky could recover. 'We hope she can bring us happiness and hope, not to disappoint us.'

The family's feelings might best be summed up by the constable's nine-year-old daughter, who has rarely been able to visit her father because she is under the age limit. 'I feel happy and I hope papa won't be a lazybones anymore. Get up and return to work as soon as possible,' she said last night.