The Customs and Excise Department is appealing to the public for a liver donation for one of its officers who is in a coma in hospital after being injured on duty last week.
The officer, Yuen Wai-cheung, 39, was in a critical condition at Queen Mary Hospital last night, waiting for a liver transplant which is the only way to save his life.
Yuen, who is a member of the revenue and general investigation bureau, damaged his liver when he tripped and fell against a roadside railing during a raid to counter trading in illicit cigarettes. Commissioner of Customs and Excise Richard Yuen Ming-fai, who visited the injured officer last night, said Yuen was on life support.
'He is a devoted and committed officer who has the support of colleagues, and is a keen chess player as well,' the commissioner said.
Yuen, who joined the customs service 15 years ago and is married with a nine-year-old daughter, was chasing a suspected member of an illicit cigarette syndicate in Kin Ming Estate, Tsuen Kwan O, at about 6.30pm on Thursday when he fell.
He did not have obvious injuries and felt only chest pain but it was found during treatment at United Christian Hospital that his liver was bleeding and he had surgery to stop the bleeding.