A new recording believed to be of late singer Coco Lee tearfully talking about the excruciating pain in her leg is making rounds on Chinese social media sites.
In the 37-second clip uploaded to Weibo on Aug 30, Lee – who died at 48 on July 5 – could be heard telling a friend in an audio message that she was in pain and could not do basic things such as sitting, sleeping or walking.
"If you are free now, I am awake. Could you give me a call? My leg feels so uncomfortable.
"I'm not trying to be negative, but it's too unbearable. I can't sleep, sit or walk. It's too serious now. Can you please call me when you are free?" she said in a hoarse voice.
It can be seen from the recording shared that Lee sent the audio message on Nov 7, 2022 – three months before she underwent a major surgery to treat a defect in her left leg.
In March, the Hong Kong-American pop diva posted on social media a video of herself learning to walk again after her operation in February.
Lee first hinted of her surgery in a Weibo post dated Feb 23, where she revealed that she had triggered an old leg injury after overexerting herself during a dance practice in October 2022.
The singer also disclosed then that she was born with a defect in her left leg and underwent surgery when she was two years old.
However, the operation was unsuccessful and she had since been relying on her right leg to support her whole body.
Last month, a viral nine-minute recording of Lee claiming she was "humiliated" and "bullied" on Chinese reality show Sing! China sparked fierce backlash from the public.
The programme was temporarily suspended on Aug 25 due to the ongoing investigation into the mistreatment claims made.