Fok King-hee never thought of giving up on his son Hin-chung after he fell into a vegetative state, but he says the cold attitude of medical staff caused him to lose trust in the health system and appeal to Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen. Mr Fok, a primary school teacher, complained that doctors had withheld treatment from Hin-chung, who has been in a persistent vegetative state after collapsing at home in Yuen Long in early January. He said doctors had only arranged a magnetic resonance imaging scan for the boy a week after his fall because the family requested it. Tuen Mun Hospital does not offer Chinese medicine services, so the family transferred Hin-chung in February to Yan Chai Hospital, which gives him acupuncture three times a week. But Yan Chai lacks a neurology department and so the parents turned to Princess Margaret Hospital for further neurological diagnoses. The family also suggested alternative treatments, such as high-pressure oxygen treatment and Chinese herbal medicine, be tried, but both were rejected by the hospital. 'We are confused by the system, but no staff member can explain it to us. We have to search for the information on the internet by ourselves,' Mr Fok said. Early last month, he asked a neurologist at Princess Margaret if an operation could be arranged to treat Hin-chung's hydrocephalus (excess fluid in the brain). The doctor told him it would be very risky and probably useless, and would 'contravene the natural laws', delaying the boy's death. The doctor said the family should take Hin-chung home because he had occupied a bed for a long time. 'I was shocked. How can a doctor say such things to a patient's family? I could not sleep that night and so I wrote to the chief executive,' Mr Fok said.