Friday September 8, 2006

By G.C. TAN

ALOR STAR: The facial tumour of Malaysian “elephant girl” Hong Siew Hui has finally been successfully removed.

This was done in an operation which lasted nearly four hours at the Fuda Cancer Hospital (FCH) in Guangzhou yesterday.

The Form Five school leaver is now under observation at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Her condition has been reported to be stable.

FCH president Prof Xu Kek Cheng described the surgery as the biggest and most challenging operation ever carried out in the history of the hospital.

“We are monitoring her condition over the next 24 hours to ensure that she does not suffer any after-surgery complications,” he said in a statement yester-day.

Hong, 18, from Taman Ber-satu, Simpang Empat here, was admitted to the hospital in May.

Hong was wheeled to the operation theatre at 8am yesterday.

She was accompanied by her mother Goh Jit Yang, 58, who has been with her from day one.

Prof Xu said doctors removed 1.5kg of the tumour from Hong’s face.

“This operation is only a part of the whole surgical procedure as we expect to face a series of after-surgery complications,” he said.

The surgery team comprised surgeons and spe- cialists led by FCH vice-president and Assoc Prof Dr Niu Li-Zhi.

Hong was admitted to the hospital in May together with a fellow Kedahan, Tan Kia Khim, 25, who was seeking similar treatment.

Tan, a coffeeshop assis-tant, from Alor Star, also underwent a successful operation to remove his smaller tumour at the same hospital and returned home on July 18.

The Kedah Chinese As-sembly Hall had raised funds to send both Hong and Tan for treatment.