Family Life Education Series
Mutual support for families :
"My dear son"

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We have, including the following article, published the cases of five police families with special needs. It is estimated that there are about 100 such families within the Force. Being a caring organisation, the Force strives to take good care of its members, both for their work or families. The Mutual Support Group for Special Needs Families organised by the Welfare Services Group provides a venue for our colleagues to support and help each other.

In the following article, a father describes how he waited with great anxiety outside the ICU for the outcome of the operation performed on his just-born son, while his wife remained unconscious after a caesarean operation. Eventually, he got over his ordeal with strong will and determination to bring happiness to his wife and his son.

Just by his name you can see the parents' expectation for their son. His name stands for the moonbeam at night and sunbeam at daytime. Bright, shiny and full of happiness, I do wish my son to be like that. My hope was snuffed out when my son, Sunny, was born with spine defect.

I still remember the night when my son was born in 1995. The doctor came out from the delivery room and said: "Mr Hung, your wife is alright but is still unconscious, but there is something wrong with the baby."

"What's wrong with the baby, please tell me doctor," I begged. "We found a tiny hole in the baby's spine located in the lower back. Luckily it was a caesarean; otherwise more damage could have been done to the baby. In a while, our paediatrician will explain in more details," the doctor replied. I was later taken to see my child.

The doctor explained that my son was born with a spine defect. According to statistics, one out of 600 to 650 newborns in foreign countries and one out of 2,000 to 2,500 newborns in China was born with such defect. The cause of the defect remains a mystery and the doctor urged me to consent to sending my baby to Queen Mary Hospital for follow-up operation and medical procedures, indicating there would be lots of unknowns.

Upon arriving at the hospital, my son was sent to the ICU, hitting me on how serious his condition was. Teams of doctors were busy examining, assessing, discussing, and taking pictures, trying to figure out what to do for Sunny. As his father, I was advised: "Don't expect a miracle. With that hole, Sunny was born with some nerves missing and we decided to sew up the hole in his back to avoid infection. After that, we don't know what to expect. We need your consent for the operation, please sign here."

I was shocked and felt helpless as I listened to the doctor. Loneliness hit me hard because nobody was around to help. I thought for a while and told the doctors: "I know you do this for my son." I signed the papers, rushed out from the room, and felt stunned. I was very confused: "What have I done? How am I supposed to explain to my wife and my parents? What would happen to Sunny? Will he become disabled...?"

I rushed to hospital to see my wife and told her what had happened to Sunny.

She was as shocked as I was. In the next few days, I travelled back and forth from one hospital to the other to see my wife and Sunny. It was agonising to watch others taking their newborns home.

Five days later, my wife was discharged from hospital. Instantly, she wanted to see Sunny. She was in tears and pinned our hopes for him on the doctors.

Sonny's operation went well, and he was discharged when he was one month old.

Now I accept what has happened to Sunny. Sunny is cute and active. From him I come to realize the difficulties of parents, especially those of the father of a disabled child. There would be more problems, but they can be resolved with determination and confidence. My wife and I are happy as long as he is happy. Sunny has brought us sunshine after all. It is a joy to watch him grow up healthily.

PS & SR Branch Welfare Services Group


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