A Hong Kong dancer left paralysed after being struck by a giant screen at a concert by popular Cantopop boy band Mirror has partially revealed his face for the first time since the accident happened three years ago.
Mo Li Kai-yin, 30, shared a few photos in an Instagram post on Wednesday night, including a half-body shot of him sitting in a white T-shirt, with a significant surgical scar near his collarbone from a tracheotomy. His facial features were playfully altered with a filter that magnified his eyes and mouth.
“It’s me,” Li wrote in the post. “I was so encouraged by something the daughter of a glasses shop owner said [on Tuesday]. I wanted to share a few recent small moments that have lifted my spirits and see if I can get some positive energy from all of you.”
Li’s post also featured items on his desk, pictures of a sunset and AI-generated cat images.
The post was liked by about 38,000 Instagram users within 13 hours. Other artists, including Kay Tse On-kay and some members of the Hong Kong girl group Collar, also left comments.
Li is currently receiving treatment overseas.
The dancer suffered severe spinal injuries after a four-by-four-metre (13-by-13-foot) screen suspended over a stage fell and struck him and fellow performer Chang Tsz-fung during the band’s concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum on July 28, 2022.
The accident left Li at risk of being permanently paralysed from the neck down as a quadriplegic.
His social media page was inactive for some time after the accident. His first post since the incident was made last December, in which he referred to his father, Reverend Derek Li Shing-lam, as possibly “the only person who loves me this way”.
In March, he shared an old video of himself teaching a dance class. “I’m sure many of my students are much better than I was back then,” he commented.
Li’s girlfriend So Tsz-ching, a former Collar member, reposted the dancer’s update to her Instagram story with the caption: “If only I had half his strength.” - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
