Nora Sun (孫穗芬), a granddaughter of the late Republic of China (ROC) founding father Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), was seriously injured in a car accident in Taipei yesterday, police said.
Nora Sun, 72, was still undergoing emergency treatment at the Shin Kong Wu Ho-su Memorial Hospital at press time.
According to Chen Ching-lin (陳慶霖), chief of surgery, Nora Sun suffered serious blows to her chest and abdomen, resulting in multiple traumas, lacerations of the liver and massive internal bleeding.
Nora Sun was in a coma when she first arrived at the hospital at around 8:15am and her heartbeat and blood pressure could not be measured, Chen said.
After a first emergency -operation to repair her abdominal aorta, she underwent a second procedure to treat her chest trauma and received an infusion of 12,000cc of blood, the doctor said.
Nora Sun was traveling on the city’s Jianguo Overpass in a Volvo sedan driven by a friend when the accident occurred at around 7:40am. Her car was hit by a March sedan coming from the opposite side of the highway, police said.
ONE FATALITY
While Nora Sun, her friend and a passenger in the March sedan were injured, the driver of the March sedan died.
Nora Sun lives overseas but returned to Taiwan this week to attend the Taipei International Flora Expo.
She was heading to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to take a flight to Hong Kong at the time of the accident, according to police.
Her son arrived in Taiwan late yesterday from Hong Kong to be by his mother’s bedside, Shin Kong Hospital said.
PRESIDENT VISITS
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he felt sorry about what had happened and visited Nora Sun in hospital last night. The Presidential Office would be in close contact with the hospital and will swing into action if necessary, he said.
Nora Sun was born in Shanghai, but spent her youth in Taiwan. She began a career in the US diplomatic service in the late 1980s.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) yesterday thanked Nora Sun for visiting the flora expo to show her support for the event and urged the public to join him in praying for her recovery.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AP, KO SHU-LING AND MO YAN-CHIH
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