On the road to recovery
Although Police Constable Mr Ko Wing-cheung is fighting hard against SARS, he still reminds his fellow colleagues to keep up their good work.
Mr Ko was finally released from hospital on May 16 and is now convalescing and looking forward to eventually returning to work. However, he doesn't forget to thank his colleagues and Police Welfare Officers for helping him fight this long battle, and for their extensive efforts to care for his wife and two little children.
In a letter to his colleagues, Mr Ko said: "Recently, I have received many greetings from you. I am really grateful for that. Your encouragement and support helps me win this battle against SARS. I will try hard to fight against the disease. I look forward to working with you again.
"Please don't worry about my condition. My doctor told me that my condition is starting to respond to treatment and that he would be prescribing smaller dosages of drugs in the hope that I can win the battle through my own antibodies."
Looking back to late April, Mr Ko's condition was rather unstable because he had shown no positive response to steroids and Ribavirin treatment. Luckily, he reacted positively to serum treatment.
Attached to the Kowloon East (KE) Police Tactical Unit Yankee Company, Mr Ko was deployed to help implement the isolation order on Amoy Gardens Block E on the late night of March 31. He had also assisted in home isolation checks by visiting those who had had close contact with SARS patients.
As Mr Ko was admitted to hospital on April 13, at which time his wife had voluntarily undergone quarantine at home with their three-year-old and eight-year-old sons.
Police members, including his colleagues and welfare officers from New Territories North (NTN) and KE regions, realised the Force's team spirit by giving mutual help and support to each other. They helped the family purchase necessities to meet their daily needs.
Later, his wife and his three-year-old son were confirmed to have contracted SARS and his eight-year-old son also underwent SARS-related treatment. Now, his wife and his sons have been discharged from hospital.
PTU "Y" Company Commander Ms Yolanda Chan Mei-pui, NTN Assistant Police Welfare Officer Ms Katherine Siu Wan-yeung and KE Assistant Police Welfare Officer Ms Alice Ho Ngar-lai worked eagerly behind the scenes to care for Mr Ko's family.
From time to time, Ms Chan, Ms Siu and Ms Ho and their colleagues called up Mr Ko to offer help. Cards of all kinds wishing for his good health also flooded in.
Ms Chan said Mr Ko had yet to move his home to newly-allocated Police quarters when he started receiving treatment in hospital. Therefore, her colleagues helped the family apply for daily utilities like electricity and towngas.
On the other hand, Ms Siu and Ms Ho helped the family purchase furniture so that the little children could move into their new home after undergoing a 10-day quarantine at a Social Welfare Department hostel. They also arranged for the release of welfare grant to the family so that they could maintain their normal living standards for the time being.
Moreover, Ms Ho didn't forget the little children who needed special care during this extraordinary period. She appealed for Force volunteers to help the family and the response was encouraging. During the last two weekends, the volunteers took the elder child to play baseball and to have some outings.
"The boy was really happy," Ms Ho said. She added that she is looking for volunteers to act as private tutors for the children.
Ms Chan said: "Mr Ko had performed prettily well in his work. What is most touching to me is that he never forgets his Police duties in hospital. Rather than worrying about himself, he keeps on thinking about his colleagues and reminding them to concentrate on their work. To me, this is commitment to duty in the purest form.
"Mr Ko is quite gentle and doesn't talk much in his daily work. But he is stronger than anyone else when he is fighting this disease," Ms Chan added.
Ms Chan said her colleagues in "Y" Company were deeply saddened by Mr Ko's illness. Although some of them were worried about catching the disease at the very beginning, they were never shaken by their worries. Instead they managed to maintain high team spirit and professionalism in their work, she added.
As Mr Ko rightly pointed out in his letter, Force members should not worry about the disease and should continue to work hard, especially when members of the public were feeling so uneasy about the SARS outbreak. 
PC Mr Ko Wing-cheung (right) is looking forward to getting back to training with colleagues from PTU Yankee Company