The days may be numbered for an eight-year-old Hong Kong girl who was left in a vegetative state after an incident during surgery at a public hospital in 2020, her family has said, as signs of heart failure emerge and relatives prepare for the worst.
Chau Tin-yu was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a type of rare cancer, in 2018. But during surgery to remove the tumour two years later, a blood transfusion was delayed by 48 minutes, leaving her permanently bedridden.
Her family on Saturday said on their social media page that her situation “did not look positive” and she might not survive.
“The doctor told us that Tin-yu has been having low blood pressure and her heart has been beating slow. It is believed that her heart is beginning to fail,” they wrote.
“In fact, the doctor has started giving her inotropes, but it has not been very effective,” they said, referring to medication that alters the force of muscle contractions.
The family said that although they had mentally prepared themselves in the past few years, the pain in their hearts was “beyond description”.
“Tin-yu’s life may be counting down. We do understand that with her situation, rather than prolonging her suffering, it might be better for her to comfortably head to heaven,” they said.
Hong Kong medical experts caution against labelling infant’s death as blunder
Hong Kong medical experts caution against labelling infant’s death as blunder
“We believe this is not the worst outcome.
“There is nothing much to do now other than spending more time with Tin-yu and accompanying her to walk the last path of her life. Please continue to pray for Tin-yu.”
Chau was four years old when she underwent surgery at Queen Mary Hospital in May 2020, and has been living with severe intellectual disability since.
She was able to go outdoors in her wheelchair for the first time in September last year.
Her family launched a civil lawsuit against the Hospital Authority three years ago and the two sides reached a settlement in October.
Before the settlement, her family had accused the authority of covering up the incident and taking too long to conduct an investigation.
Her father said police had launched a criminal investigation in November, as he suspected that an anaesthesiologist involved in her surgery had altered the operation record to conceal facts about the incident.
Chau’s father earlier this year also revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer and had begun to receive treatment and undergo surgery.