Meet the Hong Kong footballer balancing a passion for nursing with chasing China dream
Tai Po forward Lee Lok-him eyes a shot at playing on the mainland, in between working on geriatric ward at Princess Margaret Hospital
Talented young Tai Po forward Lee Lok-him is juggling his football career with working on a geriatric hospital ward as part of the nursing degree he is taking to safeguard his future.
Identified as a serious Hong Kong prospect by interim head coach Roberto Losada, the 21-year-old Lee started and finished Tai Po’s weekend defeat by Southern, after a decisive cameo off the bench in the recent Senior Shield final victory over BC Rangers.
He said he was “a bit shocked but also excited” to be included in all three of Losada’s city team squads since the 49-year-old took charge in December, most recently figuring as a substitute in last month’s FWD Chinese New Year Cup victory over FC Seoul.
“It’s encouraged me to work harder to prepare for games,” Lee said, although his course at Polytechnic University is complicating that desire.
“We need to work a lot in placements and, sometimes, it’s difficult to handle both,” Lee said. “I need to be in the hospital to work, but also to go to training.”
Currently working on the acute medical ward for geriatrics at Princess Margaret Hospital in Kowloon, Lee’s days include “things like wound dressing and uro-catheter insertion”.