How a Hong Kong teen is set to conquer cancer with a granted wish and a drawing tablet
Isabel Pugsley finds respite in between countless visits to the doctor by channelling her emotions into illustrations, and with a nifty new device given to her by a charity, she has found an artist’s touch
On a typical Tuesday morning, when most 15-year-olds are getting ready for class, Isabel Pugsley is heading to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam, a two-hour commute from her home in Sai Kung. The journey is particularly gruelling for her.
Mother Arlina Sereos, 49, who accompanies Isabel on such trips, says: “Tuesdays and Fridays are for blood tests, then chemotherapy every Wednesday.”
The pair recall numerous visits to specialists and with Isabel going through all kinds of scans after discovering a lump on the left side of her jaw bone. She was initially put on antibiotics but within three weeks of the treatment, the left side of her face began to swell up to twice its size, down to her neck.
Help for ailing long-time Hong Kong resident to get ticket home
“There was a point where [my vision] became blurry … and I couldn’t close my eyes,” she says.
“The cancer cells slowly spread from my lymph nodes in the neck upwards to the temple area.”
With proper treatment now, the routine visits will soon come to an end for the teenager, who has overcome stage four maxillary rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer of skeletal muscle tissue. She hopes to return to what she truly loves to do: drawing.
The budding artist wants to draw people, and with a digital drawing tablet, a gift from the local branch of international charity Make-A-Wish Foundation, she hopes to finally master the skill.
