‘You have to stand tall and fight strong until the whistle blows’: Hong Kong rugby women share cancer stories and tell how battling disease is a team sport
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Bloomberg HK Scottish rugby player Myron Ng Suet-ying lost her mother to pancreatic cancer three years ago.
Ng said her mum was initially given six months to live, but she fought against the disease for more than a year. The tumour was inoperable, but Ng said her mum still went on hikes, got outdoors and exercised and was planning a trip to Japan with her friends.
“She was just living because of sheer will,” said 25-year-old Ng. “My mom was a true fighter, she wouldn’t be stopped by anything.”
Ng, who started playing rugby when she was 16 and also lost her father to cancer, previously played for Hong Kong’s national team and said she used many tactics on the field that were similar to those her mother used to fight the disease.
“Just like a rugby game, when you’re against a team that’s bigger and stronger than you, what will you do? Forfeit? No, I’ll just take all the punches and do anything that I can to win the game. I won’t see it as no chance to win, I’ll just stand tall, fight strong until the whistle blows.”