HK star Michelle Reis almost died from illness due to punctuation error in doctor's text

The former Miss Hong Kong experienced heart palpitations and breathing difficulties early this year. Photo: Michelle Reis/Instagram

This might’ve fallen under a “funny story” category if weren’t for the extremely serious situation.

In January this year, Hong Kong celebrity Michelle Reis shared on social media that she was hospitalised in the intensive care unit for 48 hours, narrowly escaping death.

In an interview on Tuesday (Oct 25), the 52-year-old revealed just how close her brush with death was.

She said that her heart rate was around 160bpm when it happened. A normal resting heart rate for adults is between 60-100bpm.

Realising something was wrong, the family called in her doctor.

After the doctor checked and left, Reis’s husband – Hong Kong businessman Julian Hui – noticed that she was feeling drowsy.

So, he asked the doctor if Reis could rest for a while before she’s taken to the hospital.

And the doctor texted back with two words in English: “No Hurry”.

Presuming that there was no urgency, Hui decided to let Reis lie down for a while.

Needless to say, that was not what the doctor meant at all. The text was supposed to be read: “No! Hurry!”

Luckily the doctor called Hui to tell him to bring Reis to the hospital immediately.

Only after she was admitted did Reis’s family learn how serious her situation was.

The former actress said in the new interview that if she had really fallen asleep that day, she might not have woken up.

Back in January, Reis said this: “My doctor later told me, ‘If I delayed the treatment any longer, the world would be missing Michelle Reis’.”

Since the health scare, the mother of one has bounced back to good health.

When she turned 52 in June, the beauty queen showed off a bikini figure in Instagram post. More recently, she and Hui went on their first holiday after the medical emergency.