謝婉雯一生

In the Spring of 2003, the Hong Kong S.A.R. (Special Administrative Region) was hit by an unprecedented outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, Fear gripped the city of nearly seven million as more than a thousand people suspected of having caught the virus were quarantined in hospitals, and hundreds of medical staff were exposed to the deadly corona virus through contact with infected patients. Medics and health care workers worked around the clock, battling to fight an unknown killer disease that seem to spread like wildfire. They worked exhaustively long hours and for weeks, were themselves "quarantined" at the hospitals where they served, and could not return home or see their families for several weeks. Casualties among doctors and nurses were high, particularly at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Shatin, with many struck down by the virus. But most of them eventually recovered. A few brave ones did not.

Among them was Dr. Joanna Tse Yuen-Man, 35. A lung and chest specialist at Tuen Mun Hospital, she faithfully continued to report for duty despite the apparent risks of being infected. Some other doctors had refused to attend to SARS patients, seeing it as a death sentence. But Dr. Tse did not shrink back from the task before her. As a doctor her duty was to save lives, and she was among the first medical officers to volunteer for duty in the SARS ward. She was infected while caring for critically ill SARS patients at the Tuen Mun Hospital.

On April 3rd, she was confirmed as being infected with SARS. Twelve days later, she was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit in critical condition. She fought for her life for more than a month, during which medical specialists from both the Hong Kong University and Chinese University gave her various treatments but to no avail. Dr. Tse died at 4 am on May 13. She was the first public hospital doctor to die from SARS.

When news of her death was reported in the media, it touched a tender nerve in a community already reeling from SARS phobia. That Dr Tse was only 35 and a widow, and sacrificially volunteered to care for SARS patients, touched the heartstrings of many a man and woman in the street. She was mourned like someone they knew. There were tears from young and old alike as people began to realize that doctors were vulnerable, too. Her youth, her spirit of serving and caring for the sick in the frontline of this battle against the SARS outbreak earned Dr. Tse the respect and admiration of all Hong Kong,

Government officials. Dr. Tse's patients, fellow church members and Hong Kong residents paid their last respects at a memorial set up at the hospital where she worked. They all came to mourn a heroine. Some two thousand people came to her funeral, including top government officials, and she was given a hero's burial.

There was an outpouring of grief and sadness in the city. Hong Kong has lost a competent doctor. Dr. Tse lost her husband, also a doctor, to leukemia barely a year ago. Those who knew her were touched by her sacrificial spirit. A colleague said it was a great honor to work with her. A former patient commented that Dr. Tse was not a "common" doctor; and that losing her was like losing a loved one. Her university lecturer confessed he had mixed feelings - he was proud of her but, at the same time, he felt a deep a sense of loss and sadness.

Dr. Tse's death was a remarkable end to an ordinary life. Joanna's life, her spirit, character and vision will be remembered by those who knew her and loved her. John 12:24 in the Bible says, "unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." By her death, Joanna touched a whole community on a scale seldom seen before in Hong Kong. By her death she has taught all of us how to live.

Go to the following website for reference:

http://www.joannatse.com/esite/index.php