9/11 survivor dies of Sars

2003-06-10 11:08

Hong Kong - A lawyer who survived the September 11 terror attacks in New York has died of Sars in Hong Kong, his widow said on Tuesday.

Frankie Chu, 41, left New York with his wife and two young daughters to start a new life in his native Hong Kong after escaping death in the 2001 terror attacks.

Chu, who lived in America for 15 years and was partner in a Fifth Avenue law firm, had been due to attend a meeting above the 20th floor in one of the World Trade Centre twin towers when the terrorist planes slammed into them.

He never made the meeting because his wife Karen, who was travelling into the city with him, delayed him by taking a phone call as they were about to leave, making them miss their train.

The shock of the terror attack persuaded Chu to quit New York within weeks and move to Hong Kong with his family where he set up an education programme to introduce new teaching methods.

He contracted Sars from a passenger on an Air China flight from Hong Kong to Beijing on March 15, fell ill four days later and died a month later in Hong Kong's Tseung Kwan O Hospital.

Widow Karen, 41, a social worker, told Deutsche Press Agentur, on Tuesday she had believed they were "so lucky" when they escaped the September 11 carnage.

"Frankie only missed the meeting because I was going into the city with him from our home in Westchester and I was talking to a friend on the phone and I asked him to wait for me.

"We missed the train and saw the cloud of smoke coming out of the World Trade Centre from our train window as we traveled in on a later train."

The escape convinced Chu he "had to do something more with his life" and within weeks he gave up his law firm and returned to Hong Kong with his family to set up an education programme that had been his biggest ambition.

He was flying to Beijing to try to introduce the programme to mainland China when he was infected by a "super-spreader" on board, a 72-year-old man who infected 18 people on the same flight with Sars.

Mrs Chu is now struggling to carry on with her late husband's work.

"Frankie had 10 to 15 people working for him in the office. After he caught Sars, they all left. I'm trying to carry on, doing everything by myself," she said.

"I'm not sure I have the confidence but I just want to carry on and try my best for Frankie. This was his dream."

More than 5 300 people in mainland China and more than 1 750 people in Hong Kong have been infected with Sars. A total of 290 Hong Kong people have died while 340 have died in mainland China. - Sapa-DPA

- SAPA