HONG KONG: Despite her rapidly deteriorating condition, Nina Wang had a strong will to survive, Tay Eng Hseon, an oncologist who treated the ailing tycoon, told the Court of First Instance yesterday.

Tay treated the dying woman at the K.K Women's and Children's Hospital in Singapore between 2005 and 2006.

"Nina would try anything to stay alive," Tay said on the 32nd day of the probate trial that is to decide the rightful heir of Wang's estate. "She was a fighter and she was very determined, not someone who would give up easily. She would try any type of treatment to stay alive."

Wang complained of abdominal pain, breathlessness and lethargy throughout the course of her treatment, as her cancerous cells seeped fluids that accumulated in her body.

From July to November 2006, Wang underwent multiple abdominal chest taps to drain the fluids.

By late 2006, the disease had clearly taken a toll on Wang. Tay noted Wang was bubbly and talkative when he first treated her in 2005. By April 2006, he said he saw a completely different person. "Although she could still communicate, you can see her condition has deteriorated considerably," he told the court.

The court heard that when Wang arrived in Singapore by plane in August 2006, she felt extremely weak. She was breathless, and needed to sit in a wheelchair to be taken to hospital.

By mid September, Wang was quite frail, Tay said. She had lost 20 pounds in just one month and was not eating well. Subsequently she was put on total parental nutrition, that is, having food and nutrients fed to her intravenously.

By early October 2006, Tay noted Wang was much less alert and had "reduced consciousness". Her condition was too serious for her to travel. Tay conveyed the bleak prognosis to Wang and told her she could collapse without proper medical support.

She had to be fed food directly into her abdomen as she could not ingest.

Tay said there were no signs that Wang suffered from delirium.

(HK Edition 07/03/2009 page1)