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Wynna Wong

Hong Kong television host Clark Chan Man-nam, known by his stage name Koba, has died at the age of 29 after a six-month battle with a rare form of spinal cancer.
Koba’s death was announced on his Instagram account on Saturday night in a post which had attracted more than 2,700 comments by Sunday afternoon
Some came from other cancer patients who praised his courage and said he was an example to people battling the disease.
“I see you are so strong despite the pain, devoting your life to documenting your cancer fight... I hope you are free from all that now,” one said.
“Thank you for fighting hard for your life, you have inspired many,” another added.
Koba had been a host on TVB’s Love Is..., a talk show about romance geared towards young people.
But he was diagnosed late last year with Ewing’s sarcoma, a type of cancerous tumour that forms in bones and mostly affects children and young adults.
The tumour was found between two vertebrae in his spine.
The Instagram post carried his final public words, written last Wednesday, where he said he was grateful for the “constant support and care” from family, friends and the public.
“Having you all alongside me on this journey has made me feel incredibly fortunate and thankful,” Koba wrote. The date of his death was not clear from the post.
He detailed his final weeks in the social media post, including a complete loss of bladder control that required him to use diapers and a catheter, and constant pain in areas where he still had sensation, such as his shoulder blades, neck and scalp.
Koba said he had been hospitalised since June 22 because of total lower-body paralysis.
“I couldn’t move anything below my chest and had zero sensation ... so I had to be rushed to hospital,” he wrote.
“The cancer has spread to many different areas, including my chest, lungs, multiple vertebrae and lymph nodes ... I can even physically feel some of the lumps.”

Koba added he was having difficulty breathing and suffered heart palpitations, as well as feeling cold and sweaty.
Doctors told him that further rehabilitation therapy would be ineffective and said his treatment should be focused on palliative care.
The television star gave the first clear indication that he had cancer last December when he posted a video of his shaved head after he lost “a lot of hair” because of chemotherapy treatment.
Koba was later open about his illness and updated the public on his progress and answered questions about Ewing’s sarcoma.
Many fans left messages of encouragement and admiration for his optimistic attitude on his social media channels.
Koba said in one video that Ewing’s was most common in children and rarely affected adult men, so he thought of himself as “one in a million, God’s chosen child”.
He added that his family had no history of cancer, and that he had only sought medical advice after he felt discomfort around his hip area.
Doctors at first spent about two months treating him for spinal disc herniation, but there was no improvement. They carried out more scans which revealed the tumour on his spine.
Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore in the US, said Ewing’s sarcoma is a rare type of bone cancer most common in young people aged between 10 and 20, when bones are usually in a phase of rapid growth.
The disease accounts for 1 per cent of childhood cancers in the United States - around 200 cases year - and was said to be “very rare” in adults.
The cancer’s five-year survival rate for adults - the percentage of people still alive five years after diagnosis - is 70 per cent.
But that falls significantly, to as low as 15 per cent, if the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
Hong Kong’s Children Cancer Foundation said Ewing’s sarcoma was “rare” among ethnic Chinese people.


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Clark Chan was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma late last year. Photo: Instagram/koba_mcn

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News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Society

Fans pay tribute to Clark Chan, known by stage name Koba, after death announced on his Instagram account


Fans pay tribute to Clark Chan, known by stage name Koba, after death announced on his Instagram account.


Television Broadcasts (TVB)

Hong Kong society

Cancer