Hong Kong Umbrella Movement activist and ex-lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun reveals cancer diagnosis
Hong Kong Free Press
Former lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun has revealed a cancer diagnosis after undergoing surgery to remove half of his stomach.
The pro-democracy ex-lawmaker, who was convicted of public nuisance-related charges related to the 2014 Umbrella Movement and jailed for eight months in April 2019, revealed his stomach cancer diagnosis on Sunday.
In a social media post, the 55-year-old said the diagnosis was confirmed weeks after he first felt discomfort in his stomach in early October, when a general practitioner told the ex-lawmaker that the discomfort was caused by excess stomach acid.
“A few days later, I vomited profusely and was referred to a specialist who told me that it was gastritis and that I had to take special medication, but the vomiting worsened instead,” he wrote in Chinese.
Shiu was then admitted to hospital, where doctors suspected Shiu’s stomach pains were caused by a duodenal obstruction – another misdiagnosis. “It wasn’t excess stomach acid, gastritis or duodenal obstruction. It was stomach cancer,” Shiu said.
Surgery and graduation
Shiu said he underwent emergency surgery to remove half of his stomach and nearby lymph nodes. He is awaiting an oncology report to determine whether he will need chemotherapy.
Shiu said he had lost 15 kilograms and that his surgical wounds were healing well, and that he was no longer vomiting immediately after eating. He was discharged after being in hospital for 16 days.
Shiu thanked the medical staff and surgeons at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, as well as those who supported him.
Shiu was among the activists to call on protesters to occupy roads near the government headquarters during the Umbrella Movement, a 79-day pro-democracy civil disobedience campaign.
He was elected as a lawmaker in 2016 to represent the social welfare sector. He later founded Wall-fare, a prisoners’ rights support group helping those jailed over the 2019 protests and unrest that disbanded in 2021.
“I believe I can traverse this valley of darkness,” Shiu wrote on Sunday.
In a separate post on Saturday, Shiu also revealed that he had virtually attended a graduation ceremony for a master’s degree in Christian Studies while in hospital.
Shiu was removed from teaching duties at the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) in 2020 after he finished serving his eight-month jail term, as the university did not renew his contract.
He had been teaching at HKBU since 2007, before he was found guilty and jailed in 2019.
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