Bali widow on charity mission
Bali bomb survivor Polly Miller yesterday paid a visit to the burns unit at Prince of Wales Hospital to inspect equipment donated by a charity she established in the wake of the tragedy.
Mrs Miller, 30, suffered burns to 40 per cent of her body in the October 2002 bombing that claimed the lives of more than 200 people, including her husband of just five weeks, Dan Miller.
Nine other members of the Hong Kong Vandals rugby team touring party perished in the attack, including Mrs Miller's best friend and bridesmaid, Annika Linden, 29.
'It all started with a couple of friends and clients who raised some money for me while I was in hospital,' said Mrs Miller, who flew into Hong Kong on Friday. 'And I promised [the people at the hospital] I would raise money when I left.'
The charity raised more than GBP150,000 (HK$1.96 million) in its first year. So far, GBP25,000 has been earmarked for Royal Brisbane Hospital, another sum for a burn victim in Britain, and $33,000 went towards buying a portable shower trolley for the Prince of Wales Hospital's burns unit.
Because of the pain caused by burns, it is often difficult for staff to handle patients, or even for them to stand up in the shower.
The trolley is equipped with drainage holes which allow patients to take a shower without having to stand up or be handled too much.
'It's actually wonderful for our patients and our nurses,' said Andrew Burd, the hospital's chief of plastic surgery.
He said donations to the fund would make a difference wherever they were distributed.
'Patients will certainly benefit from them. A burn is not an injury that occurs and then heals ... they can leave terrible scarring,' he said, with 'lifetime consequences'.
'It's tragic that she lost her husband in such a way, but something good has come out of it.'
Mrs Miller, who recently resettled in Britain, feels she is on the road to recovery.
'The emotional side will last forever,' she said. 'Physically I've got two more operations coming up ... it's an ongoing process. I just want to get back to my old way of life just to say I made it'.
