How caring Hong Kong doctors inspired injured National Games triathlete to learn Cantonese
Accident left Bailee Brown with loss of movement in a finger, but now she aims to make the most of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
Bailee Brown has said she can laugh off a permanent loss of movement in her right index finger, as the Hongkonger pledged to make the most of her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for home National Games glory.
Triathlete Brown had the last of four operations on the injured digit shortly after she finished fifth in June’s China National Triathlon Championships to book her Games spot.
And the hospital visits left a lasting impression: the caring staff inspired Brown to start learning Cantonese.
“They tried to open up the scar on my palm to get the finger to bend, but it still can’t,” Brown said as she showed the bruising on her hand.
“There is nothing we can do, but I can laugh about it, it’s fine, it’s just a finger.”
Brown, who said she was already nervous for her individual women’s race a week on Saturday on Central Harbourfront, returned on Sunday from a five-week squad altitude camp in the southwest mainland province of Yunnan.