'Happy angel' leaves sweetest memory

Raising Chau Tin-yu was the sweetest memory but also the most painful experience, her father said, as condolences poured in after the death of the eight-year-old girl on Sunday.

On Facebook, the father said Tin-yu, who had been in a vegetative state for nearly four years following a suspected medical error, was put out of misery.

"We all feel heartbroken over your death. You were the sweetest and happiest memory, but the most painful experience, of my life," the father wrote. "Since you were diagnosed with cancer in 2018, you have suffered a lot. But from now on, you are relieved and will return to heaven. You will no longer have any pain."

"I promise we will meet again in heaven. Tin-yu, I love you forever."

The father said Tin-yu passed away with family members by her side.

"At the moment before she left us, she opened her eyes with her last strength and looked at me and her mother. Her heartbeat and breath then stopped slowly until she passed away peacefully," he said.

The father thanked the public for their care and support for Tin-yu. He said a funeral committee has been set up and the Hong Kong Caring Power charity will be funding and handling the funeral arrangements. The committee said the date and location of the funeral have yet to be decided.

Condolences from Facebook users were posted on a dedicated page, set up by the father.

"May there be no more pain for Tin-yu so she can become a happy angel," one said.

"It must be a big and heartbreaking decision for Tin-yu's parents [to end her life support]. I know you must be struggling and in pain, but it is the only choice to stop the girl's suffering," another said.

People encouraged Tin-yu's father to take care of himself, as he was also diagnosed with muscle and lung cancer last year.

The father said that he was mentally and physically exhausted as he was running a fever when Tin-yu died.

In 2018, Tin-yu was diagnosed with stage 4 rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare muscle cancer. In May 2020, she underwent surgery at Queen Mary Hospital, but mistakes allegedly occurred during the surgery, leading to a 48-minute delay in blood transfusion.

This prolonged period of oxygen deprivation severely damaged her brain

Tin-yu's family has settled a civil lawsuit with the Hospital Authority but will continue to pursue the authority's criminal liabilities.

The eight-year-old's condition began to worsen in late December as her heart was failing, characterized by low blood pressure and a slower heart rate despite receiving cardiac agents, and her bowel function had ceased.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com