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SARS victim's family donate cash

The father of a doctor who succumbed to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) after he was quarantined at the Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital during the 2003 SARS epidemic announced on Friday he would donate all the money awarded to him and his wife by the Supreme Court in their case against the Taipei City Government.

Lin Heng-hua (林亨華) and his wife sued the city government and demanded an apology from then Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for sealing off the hospital after seven staff members showed symptoms of the disease on April 23, 2003.

Quarantined among SARS patients and ill-equipped to treat the disease, Lin's son, Lin Chung-wei (林重威), died of SARS.

On Jan. 18, the court sided with Lin Heng-hua in his complaint that the city government was wrong to have sealed off the hospital and awarded the couple NT$7,480,000 (US$227,000) in compensation.

Calling the verdict "delayed justice," Lin Heng-hua said he and his wife would donate the entire amount and spend an additional NT$10,000,000 of their own money to create a foundation in their son's name.

The Lin Chung-wei Foundation will be operational by April 15, with Lin Heng-hua serving as chairman, he said.

The foundation will distribute scholarships, donations and other financial and material support to the medical community on the islands of Penghu County, the family's hometown, he added.

The foundation will serve his son's wish to assist the medical community on the far-flung islands, Lin Heng-hua said.

The Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper), reported that after their son's death the couple had originally tried to sue the city for a symbolic NT$1. What they truly sought, the report said, was an apology.

After the city refused to apologize and shoulder the responsibility for what the Lins said was poor judgment in sealing off the hospital, the Lins decided to take their case to the Supreme Court.

Lin Heng-hua said that neither Ma nor city officials had apologized or even called on the family to express concern since their son's death.

Lin Chung-wei's requests to organize a medical team to address the SARS epidemic while he was sick and quarantined went unanswered by hospital administrators, Lin Heng-hua added.

The father also thanked the Penghu County Government on Friday for establishing a park in his son's name, saying that it honored the sacrifices that doctors made for their patients.

The Department of Health under the Taipei City Government, meanwhile, said it was considering appealing the verdict and refused once again to apologize for sealing the hospital.

Department spokeswoman Lin Hsiu-liang (林秀亮) said on Friday that the city government had no way of knowing how SARS could spread or how to effectively deal with the epidemic during the initial outbreak.

The city's decision was made to protect all Taipei residents and the city regretted Lin Chung-wei's death, she said.
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