Friend’s shaved head helps Hong Kong cancer sufferer in last-ditch quest for costly therapy
Facing expensive immunotherapy for a rare disorder which has spread to her brain, Mandy Yau’s crowdfunding campaign has taken off after thousands of views of her friend having her long hair shaved off live on Facebook
Sharon Mak Kwan-yeung was preparing to leave Hong Kong to study in America when she learned her close friend Mandy Yau Man-yi was in the fight of her life with cancer.
Yau, 21, has been grappling with the rare disorder alveolar soft part sarcoma for six years. She has all but exhausted the conventional treatment forms, having had operations, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Her last hope is costly immunotherapy.
That money will finance treatments and help with her living expenses, too, since Yau’s parents have given up their full-time jobs – her father was a chef, her mother a security guard – to help their daughter fight the illness.
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To highlight Yau’s plight and show solidarity for her friend who lost her hair after cancer treatments, Mak, 21, had her head shaved, live on Facebook. More than 47,000 people have viewed the video, which links to the fundraising page. Since the campaign was launched in mid-October, it has raised HK$241,350 – more than two-thirds of its target – with about two months left to go.
