Student fighting for life, friends gather to pray

Student fighting for life, friends gather to pray

A University of Science and Technology (HKUST) student, who was critically injured after a suspected fall in Tsueng Kwan O on Sunday, was fighting for his life at Queen Elizabeth Hospital as his friends gathered there for prayers.



Sources told RTHK that the student is on life support and described his condition as dire. But they said reports that he has been declared brain dead are not correct, though his retinas are not responding to light.



The student is believed to have undergone two emergency operations and part of his brain was removed.



Fellow students from the university who were at the hospital were shaken and emotional. Some of them appeared to be choking back tears as they said prayers outside the intensive care unit where the student was being treated.



A representative of the university student's union said they are waiting for more details and the family of the injured student had requested privacy.



The student had been in a critical condition since the suspected fall. He had been found lying injured in a car park at Sheung Tak Estate, and it was believed he could have fallen there from the floor above.



Shortly before, police had fired multiple rounds of tear gas after coming under attack by protesters throwing bottles and bricks.



Speaking in Shanghai, Chief Executive Carrie Lam expressed deep sorrow over the student's case and offered her sympathies to his family.