Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says fractured elbow suffered in fall at her official residence could take weeks to heal
- Chief executive reveals on Tuesday her struggle to write and dress herself after tumbling down stairs at Government House the night before
- After overnight stay in hospital, confessed workaholic says she will take opportunity for a rest after three years without a proper break
Hong Kong’s leader is recovering at home with her right arm in a cast after spending a night in hospital for an elbow fracture that she suffered in a fall at her official residence on Monday night.
Lam, 64, revealed that she had fallen down a flight of stairs at Government House ahead of a banquet with retired colleagues.
“At first, I thought it was just an abrasion, but then my right arm became more painful and so I decided to seek treatment at Queen Mary Hospital after sending off the guests,” she wrote in a social media post on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s believed that it will take two or three weeks for recovery.”
She added that she had also undergone a brain scan and additional check-ups during her overnight stay in hospital.
“I am afraid the biggest difficulties I face now are how to put on clothes and write,” Lam wrote.
The accident was first revealed in a government statement shortly after midnight on Monday, saying the chief executive would have to stay in hospital for observation on her doctor’s advice, and that her weekly meeting with her advisers in the Executive Council on Tuesday morning would be cancelled.
Posting a photo of herself on social media with her entire right arm bandaged and in a sling, Lam wrote that many of her friends had told her the accident effectively offered “an unstoppable chief executive” a good opportunity to take a rest.
“I think it is a positive way of thinking as in fact, I have not taken any leave for three years already,” she wrote.
The policy address she unveiled earlier this month had kept her occupied, Lam wrote, and she hoped to continue working on implementing the initiatives she had proposed after being “recharged”.
Lam is known to be a workaholic, which she has often talked about in various media interviews over the years, even stating that she has no time at all for hobbies or relaxation.
In an interview with the Post last year, Lam said she “devoted every minute of her time to work”.
“I do nothing except work. I don’t even spend time talking to my husband these days. That is [the life of] a workaholic,” she said at the time.
Executive Council member Ip Kwok-him said Lam was apparently making light of her situation in her latest remarks.
“She is indeed very busy, but I believe she was just being careless when she fell,” said Ip, of the pro-establishment Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. “I am sure the [next] Exco meeting will be convened as scheduled the coming Tuesday.”
Lam’s injury was the talk of the town, with her supporters expressing sympathy and her detractors mocking her injury.
Dr Wong Sze-hung, a private-sector specialist in orthopaedics and traumatology, said the standard treatment for an elbow fracture was to apply a plaster cast along with an arm sling.
“Usually, patients will have X-rays taken on a biweekly basis to ensure the fracture is healing well within six to eight weeks,” he said.
“A more important takeaway is that she is a 64-year-old lady who has suffered a fracture … that may suggest the possibility of osteoporosis.”
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Wong suggested Lam follow up with a bone-density scan to look for any signs of such a condition.
A government source said while Lam had to cancel all her meetings and scheduled events on Tuesday, she had yet to decide how many days of sick leave she would need to take.
During her absence from official duties, her No 2, Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu, will serve as acting chief executive.
Hong Kong’s first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, was admitted to the same hospital last month for an undisclosed operation. His spokesman said the surgery had gone well and he was recovering.
