For injured student's family, 'suspense is worse than anything'

In the intensive care waiting room at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, a television set with the volume turned down plays in the background. But sitting damp-eyed and white-knuckled, the loved ones of College freshman Jae Lee do not seem to take notice. Unable to eat properly or concentrate on schoolwork, they can only wait. And hope. Lee, who was struck by a car at 34th and Walnut streets Monday, remains in critical condition after undergoing operations for hematomas, HUP nurse Michelle Friedburg said. Until he awakens from his coma, Lee's relatives and friends are holding a vigil in the hospital, according to Lee's brother, 22-year-old John Lee. "To be in suspense is worse than anything," John Lee said, adding that his parents, who live in Landsdale, Pa., are torn apart by the situation. When they first heard of the accident, his parents checked into the Penn Tower hotel so they could be near their son. But John Lee said even the few yards between the hospital and the hotel were too much for his mother to bear. "She kept waking up and trying to leave the hotel to see Jae and see how he is," Lee said. "She is a weak person. She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep." Finally, Lee told his parents to go home. He is holding a vigil for his brother in their place, he said. "I go see my brother every once in an hour, and I call her," Lee said. "But it's so hard to look at my brother anymore. "He always tried to make my parents happy when we were growing up -- he tried to make my parents happy by going to Penn," he added. "I can't believe he ended up in a hospital." As the hours inch by with no word from doctors of an improvement in Jae Lee's condition, his friends speak quietly of the warm-hearted student who used to joke that he would one day "rule the world." "He was always very confident," said Wharton freshman Sang Kim, who has been friends with him since high school. "He was always very determined." College freshman Jung Kang said Jae Lee treated her as kindly as he would a sister. "When he calls, he asks 'did you eat, did you go to class today?' Little things that shows he cares," Kang said. "When you become friends with him he tries to take care of you." Kang said she has been unable to concentrate on anything because she is so depressed about Jae Lee's accident. "Little things now remind me of him," she said. "I was trying to type this paper up, and I type really slow. It made me think of this time when we were working together and he got really annoyed with me because it was taking me forever to type. "He said, 'here, let me do it,' and he typed up the whole report in 10 minutes," Kang added. "When I was typing my paper [today] I kept seeing his face on the screen." Kim said he was stunned when he first heard of the accident. Now, the pain has begun to set in. But, he said, keeping a vigil at HUP has helped him keep himself together. "Just being here with everyone together helps a lot," Kim said. "Once you leave the hospital you're always wondering what happens." He added that he thinks the University administration should work harder to help ease the suffering of Jae Lee's family. "They could start a fund for the family -- not just [to help] financially, but to show support," Kim said. "Everyone should get involved to support the family. This could have happened to anyone."