Hong Kong Paralympian wants to share passion for sports
Charity receives HK$710,000 to serve spinal muscular atrophy patients like top boccia player Ho Yuen-kei
Having placed fifth at the Rio Paralympics, Ho Yuen-kei, the city’s top boccia player, believes her best days are still ahead of her.
Born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a condition similar to that of renown scientist Stephen Hawking, Ho is paralysed from her waist down. But the 23-year-old athlete has never lost her passion for boccia, a sport in which players compete to roll leather balls as close as possible to a white objective ball.
Due to her placing in Rio, Ho’s mix-gender world ranking is likely to move up from the current No 12 spot. She has been the highest-ranked female player in her category since last year.
Ho is one of the 70 SMA patients and families served by Families of SMA Charitable Trust. In 2016, the trust looks to continue to care for SMA sufferers with a donation of HK$710,000 provided by Operation Santa Claus, the annual charity campaign jointly organised by the South China Morning Post and RTHK.
Ruby Wan, a trustee, said it was an honour for the trust to serve an outstanding young woman such as Ho. She said the organisation aims primarily to provide beneficiaries with home-based rehabilitation schemes and medical equipment.
“Yuen-kei is going to study in a programme at Tsinghua University next year. So we are trying to sponsor her a new wheelchair that is more compact and fit for travelling,” Wan said.
