Hong Kong girl, 5, dies after suspected medical blunder involving stitches
Lai Sum-yuet dies in paediatric intensive care unit in Princess Margaret Hospital after suspected medical blunder about eight months ago
A Hong Kong girl who suffered a cardiac arrest while receiving stitches for a head wound in a public hospital died on Wednesday, and the Coroner’s Court will follow up on the case.
Lai Sum-yuet died on Wednesday morning at age five at Princess Margaret Hospital, where she was being treated in the paediatric intensive care unit after the suspected medical blunder about eight months ago.
“[Sum-yuet’s] condition started to deteriorate earlier this week and she was in a critical state,” a spokesman for the Kowloon West group of public hospitals said. “Her condition continued to worsen and she died on [Wednesday] morning.”
“The cluster is deeply saddened over the patient’s death and offers its deepest condolences.”
Lawmaker Joephy Chan Wing-yan, who has been assisting the family, said Sum-yuet’s father and the family were in deep grief.
“Mr Lai had always been hoping that Sum-yuet could go back home with daddy and live happily as a family of four,” Chan wrote in a social media post. “The family hoped Sum-yuet would not suffer and they stayed with her until her last moment of life. Sum-yuet is forever her parents’ good daughter.”