Why a Hong Kong community is helping a British expat raise money for a one-way ticket home
Cancer patient and long-time city resident David Coates, 61, is struggling to afford a flight back to see his loved ones for a final time
David Coates, 61, has lived in Hong Kong for 21 years and never thought he would say goodbye to his adopted hometown this way. Battling stage four stomach cancer, he longs to return to his native Middlesbrough in Britain to hug his mother, 89, and tour the countryside with his wife and daughter for a last hurrah.
Coates was diagnosed about a month ago and only a few years after his wife recovered from breast cancer. Doctors estimate that if chemotherapy is successful, he has another six months to live.
Help has been pouring in from the local community in Tuen Mun, where Coates lives with his family, to enable him to buy a one-way air ticket for a return to Britain. After financing his and his wife’s medical treatments, Coates is struggling to make ends meet. His income stream has dwindled over the past six months ever since his headhunting business started winding down.
Fresh business opportunities emerged recently, but by then he had already received the devastating news about his illness.
“We got virtually wiped out,” he recalls of last year. “It was so frustrating.”