| James Kon |
ALEX Ong was close to tears yesterday when the Brunei Fuzhou Shiyyi Association presented him with a $30,000 cheque to help pay for his wife’s cancer treatment.
Earlier this month, Ong made a public appeal for $40,000 to fund further treatment for his wife, Ann Hii Pik In, at the Fuda Cancer Hospital of the Jinan University School of Medicine in China. The treatment will include five cycles of intervention chemotherapy, along with cryosurgery and an iodine particles i125 seed implant.
In January last year, Hii was diagnosed with stage 3B non-small cell lung carcinoma. Apart from the life-threatening cancer, the 48-year-old hairdresser was also found to have right adrenal gland metastasis, pleural metastasis, lymph node metastasis and an ovarian cyst.
Ong was forced to give up his job to care for his wife and their two children. He also borrowed money from friends and relatives to pay for Hii’s medical expenses.
On hearing of their plight, Jackson Ting, the President of the Brunei Fuzhou Shiyyi Association, along with members of the executive committee, paid a visit to the couple’s home at Kampong Kiarong.
After the visit, the association decided to render financial assistance to the couple.
Both Hii and Ong told the Bulletin, “We are overwhelmed by the gesture. We don’t really know what to say. We can only offer our gratitude to the Brunei Fuzhou Shiyyi Association, and to members of the public who have helped us.”
Ong added, “We are grateful for the assistance. Together with the contribution from Brunei Fuzhou Shiyyi Association, we have managed to collect $37,920, which is a good amount to pay for the treatment.”
Hii described the months of medical treatment as “unbearable”, saying, “I wanted to give up, but I told myself that I need to live on for my children and husband.”
Her advice to everyone “is to have a CT scan once a year for early detection.”
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