Life-changing event

Sham will never forget the events of Sunday, March 9, 2003. It was supposed to be a day off from his job as a delivery man in Mong Kok. However, he was called into work to help load some packages onto a truck. When the truck was fully laden, he jumped aboard with the driver and they started making deliveries.

At one point, they stopped at the Sheung Shui Market for a couple of drinks, but when they were back on the road, Sham tensed up as they tore along far faster than the speed limit.

“Maybe the driver wanted to make up for the lost time at the market,” Sham said.

It was noon, and cars were snarled up at the Fairview Park section of the New Territories Circular Road. “We were on the fast lane, the left side of the road.” he added, recalling how the cars blocking the road ahead all had their hazard warning lights on. “The driver veered into the middle lane at high speed.”

The truck was closing fast on a car. The distance between the two vehicles evaporated in seconds, said Sham, who could foresee the outcome. He grabbed the empty seat between him and the driver, sank back into his seat and braced for the crash.

“I knew a crash was inevitable, but the way it happened was not how I expected,” he said. The driver swerved to avoid colliding with a car he was tailgating, and crashed into a vehicle in the lane adjacent to the passenger side.

PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Sham and his wife Chen Wei-ling with their daughter, June, in February last year.