Eliza Fok Ho Yi-wah heard the tenderest words from her husband after she discovered she had breast cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy.
'He said 'If you lose your hair, I will shave my head,'' recalled Fok, the new president of the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation and wife of tycoon and Hutchison Whampoa boss Canning Fok Kin-ning.
'He also said 'I don't know what will happen next, but I will walk with you through the toughest three months of chemotherapy.'
Mrs Fok first discovered she had cancer in 2003 and likened her time in a sick bed to torture. It was her husband's support that kept her going. She was given injections every three weeks during chemotherapy. As her immune system was compromised, she avoided crowded places.
But as a sports lover she knew she had to have physical exercise. So she exercised early in the morning when the streets were empty. Friends offered tips on a healthy diet.
'I walked the streets in the early morning when nobody was out. By the time they all came out, I had finished,' she said.
Having beaten cancer, Fok is now on a mission to raise public awareness about it. The foundation opened a new health centre in Fortress Hill in May, and already has 1,300 bookings.
