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Milly Pun, who had chemotherapy treatment and a bone marrow transplant, is now studying to be an engineer. Photo: Franke Tsang

Student who beat serious blood disorder as a child is proving an inspiration to others

Diagnosed with serious blood disorder while still in primary school, engineering student is proving an inspiration to other sick children

As a sporty 10-year-old, Milly Pun Hok-hei felt she was too young to have anything seriously wrong with her. So when her parents took her to various doctors in 2006 over continual bouts of flu, she never thought it could be life-threatening.

"I was still at primary school. I was a runner, I liked sports. I was taking part in a swimming competition," she says, clutching a textbook on engineering at the University of Hong Kong.

But Pun was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma, a kind of tumour of the blood cells, and was transferred to the children's oncology ward at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin.

Pun, now a 19-year-old student, is soft spoken, but get her talking about her illness, enduring chemotherapy and spending months in hospital, and there is no room for sentimentality.

"I think another reason why I'm willing to face those challenges is that I'm still young and I want to explore and experience more," she says.

Then came the recovery. And then the relapse. At 13, Pun was back in hospital and learned that this time, she had just a 10 per cent chance of survival.

A bone marrow donation from her father, a tourist bus driver, followed, as did yet more treatment.

Asked how she felt about her chances of living back then, Pun responds: "I always want to win. I don't give up easily."

Teachers from the Hong Kong Red Cross Hospital Schools would visit the young patients, she says. "I seldom studied inside the hospital as I was so sick. But they helped me and would later come to my home to teach me."

The Red Cross Hospital Schools, which provides teaching for youngsters in 18 public hospitals, has nominated Pun for the Overcoming Personal Challenge Award of this year's Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, organised by the .

In September, she was accepted by HKU to study for a four-year degree in engineering. Women make up about 20 per cent of students on her course, she says. As well as becoming an engineer, she would like to work with others on inventions to help the community.

"I hope when I graduate, I can take part in group work, research and inventions," she says. "It's a little bit crazy, but as a child I liked watching [the Japanese manga series] about a robotic cat and I wanted to make my own Doraemon."

She is also keen to tackle the air pollution. "I'd like to do something in the area of environmental protection. Pollution has become very serious in Hong Kong. I hope I can invent something in future," Pun says.

She relishes the life she now has, although she says she tires easily and still takes Chinese medicine.

Pun is shortly off to Beijing for an exchange organised by the university to improve her Putonghua. She often does voluntary work, including with the Red Cross Hospital Schools.

"I go and visit a hospital and talk with some recent patients," she says. "I share my experiences and give advice about the sickness and how to overcome it. Also about how to study, since the patients are still young … I'm something like a role model."

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: HOW BRAVE MILLY WON THE BATTLE OF HER LIFE
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