'Heart's blood' of quadriplegic Ah Bun to hit book shops next week

The story of Ah Bun, the city's most famous quadriplegic, and why he asked to be allowed to die will be in bookstores on Tuesday.

I Want Euthanasia, Tang Siu-pun's 300-page chronicle of his life as a young sportsman, the accident that put him in a hospital bed for 13 years and his extraordinary plea to former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa that made him a celebrity, is described by its publisher as 'very personal and very well written'.

Announcing in an e-mail yesterday the Chinese-language book's launch date, Mr Tang said it was 'about my heart's blood'.

'Don't hesitate to waste money on some rubbish,' he wrote self-deprecatingly, 'and please don't blame me too much after you've read it.'

Mr Tang, 37, said the book contains memories about his life as a sports education student at the teaching college now known as the Institute of Education.

Anne Lee, assistant chief editor of Joint Publishing, said Mr Tang had contacted the company about writing a book, and once it agreed to publish one, had submitted a manuscript within two months.

'It's a very good book, and I'm not saying that because I'm with the publishing company. It's because of the way he wrote. It was very personal and very well written,' she said.

It will be available at Joint Publishing outlets from Tuesday and in other bookstores a day later, and will sell at a discounted price of between HK$70 and HK$80 from Tuesday to Thursday.

Mr Tang, who became an instant celebrity when his 2003 letter was made public, has a specially designed automatic wheelchair that allows him to leave Queen Mary Hospital on occasion.