How do you return to a place that once held your entire life — after it’s been reduced to ashes?
For residents of Tai Po District, that question is painfully real.
Months after a devastating fire tore through the Wang Fuk Court complex, survivors like 59-year-old Fanny Mok are finally being allowed back — but there’s a catch.
Just three hours to collect what remains.
For Mok, even getting there is a challenge. Weak knees, breathlessness — the climb to her 13th-floor flat feels impossible.
So she’s turning to something straight out of science fiction: robotic exoskeleton legs.
“If I were 30, I wouldn’t need it,” she admits. “But at 60, I genuinely do.”
Recovery Brings Challenges
These wearable devices, provided by the AidVengers Federation and built by Hypershell, are helping elderly residents reclaim a piece of their past.
Step by step. Still, nothing about this is easy.
Imagine choosing what to save from 30 years of memories… in just a few hours.
Betty Ho, another former resident, puts it bluntly: “It’s basically impossible.”
More than 4,000 people were displaced, and many are still in temporary housing.
The fire may be over — but for these residents, the emotional aftermath is far from finished.
Because sometimes, the hardest part isn’t surviving the disaster… it’s deciding what to carry forward.
