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Mary Ann Benitez

Quadriplegic  Tang Siu-pun is making his first tentative move towards independent living. He has asked permission from Queen Mary Hospital to leave.
Options are  being considered about whether Mr Tang, 37 -  known as Ah Bun - can live on his own in a flat or move back into his parents' home.
'Ah Bun  expressed his wish to live in the community. We are trying to help him explore the possibility with the help of a social worker,' a hospital spokeswoman  said.
It is believed there is no medical hindrance to Mr Tang  being discharged from hospital.
Mr Tang did not reply to an e-mail yesterday. He was on an overnight stay at the Chinese University campus at the invitation of a professor, the hospital spokeswoman  said.
He has been staying at the hospital since an accident  17 years ago left him paralysed from the neck down.
He injured his spine while somersaulting during rehearsals for a graduation ceremony on June 16, 1991. He is unable to walk or speak, breathing through a hole in his throat. He types using chopsticks held in his mouth.
His plight became known when he wrote asking Tung Chee-hwa,  then chief executive, to let him die. The letter was revealed when it was discussed at a Legislative Council health services panel.  It sparked public sympathy,  lifting  his morale.
He underwent an operation to put a pacemaker  on his diaphragm so he could breathe on his own.  He also  acquired a  sensor-controlled wheelchair that allows him to  venture outside  the hospital.
Last year, Mr Tang released a 300-page Chinese-language book I Want Euthanasia, in which he argued for  the right to die in peace and with dignity.



I don't want to stay in hospital: Ah Bun