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Colleagues laud skills of internist, researcher, athlete
By ELAINE DELLA-MATTIA
Monday, March 29, 2004 - 09:00
| Dr. Hui Nien Lee died suddenly in Toronto on Friday. |
Colleagues laud skills of internist, researcher, athlete
By ELAINE DELLA-MATTIA
Monday, March 29, 2004 - 09:00
Local News - A Sault Ste. Marie doctor, internist, researcher and athlete is dead.
Dr. Hui Nien Lee, 39, died Friday from a heart attack after he competed in a swim meet in the Toronto area.
Lee, who practised at the Group Health Centre along with his wife, Dr. Anne Lee, was an avid swimmer and member of the Soo Masters Polar Bears Swim Team. He also served as the team’s coach.
The team was competing in a Toronto-area swim meet when Lee collapsed in the men’s dressing room after his events.
He leaves behind his wife and three children.
Lee’s sudden death has left a pall over the Sault Ste. Marie medical community.
Fellow internist Dr. Oliver Jenkins said Lee was a great asset to the whole community because of his enthusiasm for medicine and everything that went with it.
“He was a great friend of mine. He had such a charming personality and he is responsible for putting Sault Ste. Marie on the map with clinical research,” Jenkins said.
He’ll be remembered by fellow physicians as a doctor who showed great enthusiasm in his profession and had the ability to move projects along for the betterment of medicine.
Dr. Phil Catania, another friend, called him “a gentleman with endless energy.
“He liked all aspects of medicine and this community was privileged to have him here,” Catania said. “No one will be able to take over where he left off.”
Lee has been described as being a humble person despite his strong abilities, skills and research successes.
He was noted for teaching by example in the medical community and always wearing a smile.
Catania described him as a physician as close as anyone could get to the epitome of medicine and the stature of Canadian medical pioneer Sir William Osler.
Lee, a native of Singapore, moved to the Sault about 10 years ago and has been involved in many research projects. He was one of two physicians involved in an international study of two drugs aimed at preventing diabetes mellitus in high risk patients.
He was also involved in a study examining risk-control options for osteoporosis patients and with two studies dealing with the heart — one on congestive heart failure and one on the prevention of vascular disease.
Lee was recognized by his peers at the College of Physicians and Surgeons as a physician who has come closest to meeting society’s vision of an “ideal” doctor.
He was also expected to be a teacher of the new Northern Ontario Medical School.
Slightly less than one year ago, Lee told The Sault Star the reason he has stayed in Sault Ste. Marie was because of the swimming club.
“This club is great,” he had said. “It’s one of the biggest reasons why my wife and I are still in Sault Ste. Marie.”
Son Brian Lee is also an avid swimmer and competed for the Sault Ste. Marie Aquatic Club on the weekend in a region developmental meet.
“I was really proud of how our athletes rallied around Brian Lee and his family,” said SSMAC Head Coach Rob Moreside. “Our club will miss Hui greatly for his involvement and inspiration as a master swimmer.”
Lee and his wife were both avid, competitive swimmers and Lee was said to maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle.
A funeral service will be held Saturday at Central United Church at 1 p.m. with Rev. Betty Pretty officiating. Memorial donations may be made to the Dr. Hui Lee Trust Fund.