For years, 13-year-old Angel Lee had put up with excruciating pain in her bones, caused by a rheumatic disease rare among children.
Diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis at the age of three, the Form Two student suffered deformed joints and swollen knees that made her unable to walk. Until she underwent a bone marrow transplant in 2001, she had to rely on a walking stick.
The amount of medicine she had to take, including steroids and pain killers, put her arthritis under control, but they also brought about side effects such as dizziness, stomach ache and hip pain.
The operation - a pioneering procedure at the time - brought relief to her family. Angel's mother, Lee Yuen Wai-ting, used to carry her all the way from home to her classroom in a nearby school.
'She felt particularly painful in the morning and we had to coax her to get out of her bed each day. Her joints were stiff and she was unhappy. I felt helpless when doctors said hers was an incurable disease. We had not expected that advancements in medical knowledge would provide a solution.'
Now Angel can walk freely, but due to excessive consumption of steroids, her problem of hip pain remains. Doctors have warned that a major operation to replace her hip joints would be necessary but it is best to be put off until she is older - provided her condition does not deteriorate.