'While I battled Sars, Dad died in ward above'
Doctor says being infected with virus, while personal tragedy hit, made him a better medic
For Dr Yeung Koon-sing, battling his Sars infection in 2003 was like taking a "roller-coaster ride".
Not only did he have to go through the physical ordeal of having the virus, but his father died at the same time, in the same hospital, from heart disease.
"I wanted to be a doctor when I was four, because my father had a problem with his liver, kidneys and heart," Yeung said at an event yesterday, where medical staff reflected on the Sars epidemic in Hong Kong that killed 299 people in the city.
"When I was little, I held my father's hand and accompanied him to the doctor. I told him I wanted to be his doctor when I grew up. When he suddenly passed away, I lost my motivation," he said.
Yeung was a final-year Chinese University medical student working as an intern at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin when he was infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome, a form of atypical pneumonia caused by a type of coronavirus.
When he was admitted to the well-known 8A ward, he was shocked to learn many of the Sars patients there were also his colleagues. After Yeung was infected, he developed problems breathing and feared that he would die in hospital.
Worse still, his father had been sent to the same hospital, admitted to ward 9A, just the floor above. Despite him being so excruciatingly close, Yeung could not visit his critically ill father.