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Fiona Sun

A Hong Kong coroner’s inquest has ruled that a 14-year-old girl died of natural causes after developing acute myocarditis three years ago, despite her father’s insistence that her death was linked to coronavirus vaccinations.
The girl’s father, Tai Shun-keung, called Friday’s ruling “unacceptable”, stating the incident had torn his family apart and led him to depression.
A five-member jury at the Coroner’s Court delivered a unanimous verdict on Friday, following a three-day inquiry, stating Tai Yee-ting died of natural causes at Caritas Medical Centre in Cheung Sha Wan in May 2022.
The inquest specifically investigated whether her death was related to the two BioNTech coronavirus vaccine doses she received during the Covid-19 pandemic. She had her first jab in January 2022 and the second in April of the same year.
Yee-ting felt tired and vomited before she was taken to see a private doctor on May 5, 2022. She presented with symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite and a low fever.
The doctor diagnosed her as having gastroenteritis and prescribed medication.
But when her symptoms failed to improve, she was taken to the emergency department of Caritas Medical Centre and admitted to the paediatric ward later that night.
Blood tests revealed elevated cardiac enzyme levels, which led doctors to suspect myocarditis.
Yee-ting experienced body convulsions at around 2am on May 6, and her heart stopped beating minutes later. She was certified dead at 3.55am.
Coroner Arthur Lam Hei-wei on Friday summarised the evidence presented during the inquest. He noted that the testifying doctors considered Yee-ting’s death unrelated to the vaccines based on several factors.
These included the rarity of such cases, which typically involved young men, the usual onset of symptoms within a week of a second jab and the relatively low risk when there was an interval of more than eight weeks between doses.
The coroner also stated that vaccine-related myocarditis typically led to an increased number of eosinophils – a type of white blood cell crucial for the body’s response to allergic reactions, asthma and parasitic infections – which were not found in Yee-ting.
Conversely, lymphocytes were present, which could be caused by viruses, according to doctors’ testimonies cited by Lam.
The coroner said the father claimed that his daughter’s death was related to the vaccine jabs based on factors such as common viruses known to cause myocarditis were not found in his daughter and the time of her death was close to her vaccination.
Tai expressed his disappointment over the ruling.
“It feels so painful,” he said. “There is no reason why a healthy girl died suddenly after taking two vaccine jabs and was said to have died of natural causes.”
The 56-year-old security guard stated he still could not accept the death of his eldest daughter, even after three years. Depressed, he often cried at night when he thought of her.
He said his family had broken up after his daughter’s death. He was divorced from his wife and moved out of their home in Cheung Sha Wan, after being overwhelmed by the memories of Yee-ting.
Their two other daughters, now aged 15 and 10, live with their mother. Despite living separately, Tai said he spent time with his two daughters every month, but avoided mentioning Yee-ting so as not to upset them.
At a loss for what to do next, Tai said: “I will never see my eldest daughter again except only in my dreams.”


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Tai Shun-keung labels verdict on his 14-year-old daughter’s sudden death ‘unacceptable’ after family’s Covid-19 vaccination concerns


Tai Shun-keung labels verdict on his 14-year-old daughter’s sudden death ‘unacceptable’ after family’s Covid-19 vaccination concerns.


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Hong Kong father’s anguish after inquest rules teen died of natural causes

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tai Shun-keung labels verdict on his 14-year-old daughter’s sudden death ‘unacceptable’ after family’s Covid-19 vaccination concerns

Tai Shun-keung labels verdict on his 14-year-old daughter’s sudden death ‘unacceptable’ after family’s Covid-19 vaccination concerns