A Hong Kong girl who is fighting for her life after suffering a cardiac arrest following a procedure to treat a head wound has seen a slight improvement to her condition, with the youngster turning five years old in hospital on Saturday.
Family and friends visited Lai Sum-yuet in groups at Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung to wish her a speedy recovery.
“Sum-yuet is still in an intensive care unit and she is in a critical condition. Fortunately, her oedema has improved slightly and she is receiving medication for treatment,” said lawmaker Joephy Chan Wing-yan, who has been helping the family and was among those visiting.
“There are many people who love Sum-yuet and support her and her parents,” she said.
Oedema refers to swelling caused by too much fluid being trapped in the body’s tissue.
Chan added that she would continue to follow the case and arrange a meeting with senior management of Yan Chai Hospital, where Sum-yuet was first treated.
The Hospital Authority said on Saturday that the girl remained critically ill.
Lai was found unconscious and her heart had stopped after receiving three stitches in a three-minute procedure at the public hospital in Tsuen Wan on May 25. She was brought to the facility after sustaining a 2cm cut at the back of her head from a fall at home.
Her father earlier accused medical staff of forcefully pressing his daughter downwards on a pillow during the procedure, causing her to have difficulty breathing.
He urged the Hospital Authority and Yan Chai Hospital to set up a committee of experts and specialists from other institutions to conduct an independent investigation into the incident.
Police launched an investigation into the case last month after receiving a report from Lai’s father.
Dr Desmond Nguyen Gia-hung, deputising chief executive of the authority’s Kowloon West hospitals, earlier described the incident as “rare” but said he had asked medical experts to find out why the patient lost consciousness and suffered a cardiac arrest.
Chief executive of Yan Chai Hospital, Dr Ian Cheung Tsz-fung, said “no procedural error has been identified yet”.
