Manila hostage victim Yik Siu-ling continues on road to recovery

For more than three years, the journey to recovery for Yik Siu-ling - who was shot in the face during the 2010 Manila bus hostage crisis - has been a very public and difficult path.

Last week, the 37-year-old described being "reborn" and hopeful of a new life after a successful operation in Taiwan to reconstruct her jaw.

But her optimism was bittersweet amid recent claims that interference in her treatment by hospital administrators in Hong Kong may have hindered her recovery.

Yik was one of the 14 survivors of the Manila bus tragedy. On August 23, 2010, sacked Filipino policeman Rolando Mendoza took 22 Hongkongers and three Filipinos captive on a tour bus in Manila.

Seven Hong Kong tourists and their guide were killed during a bungled rescue operation in which Mendoza also died.

Last month, the former head of plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin, Andrew Burd, went public with claims that senior administrators sought to delay surgery in the crucial early days of Yik's treatment for fear of negative media coverage.

Burd said this delay caused years of "unnecessary suffering" for Yik and has called for a public inquiry into her treatment in Hong Kong.