Family in despair as PMD crash victim is put on life support

As his mother lay in a vegetative state on a hospital bed, Mr Ng Chin Khai choked up as he revealed that doctors had given her an "almost zero" chance of recovery.

Madam Ong Bee Eng, 65, suffered severe head injuries and lapsed into a coma after a collision with an e-scooter as she was cycling home in Bedok last Saturday evening.

When The New Paper was at Changi General Hospital yesterday, dozens of family members and friends were huddled by her bedside, many of them in tears.

Mr Ng, 41, an only son with three children, told TNP: "Doctors said her chance of recovery is almost zero. The injuries to her brain are very severe."

The doctors had proposed two options, he added. One is for her to undergo surgery with very low chance of recovery. The other is to keep her on life support, which the family opted for.

"We are not ready to let her go. It is too heartbreaking. We told doctors to give her painkillers and she will go when she is ready. She is scared of pain, so we don't want her to have surgery and be in more pain."

Madam Ong, a logistics packer in courier company DHL, also suffered fractured ribs and a fractured collarbone.

Mr Ng, who is unemployed, has seen images of her brain, which show how it had shifted to the right from the impact.

He was alone at home when his mother's good friend told him about the accident.

The police were alerted at around 11pm to the accident near Block 539 on Bedok North Street 3 .

The e-scooter rider, 20, has been arrested for causing grievous hurt by rash act.

Witnesses told Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News that he was speeding and could not stop in time.

Mr Ng, who has a younger sister, said Madam Ong's blood pressure has been dropping since yesterday morning.

"We are trying to cling on to hope but after what the doctors said, we know there isn't much.

"We don't have a clear picture of what happened. The man who hit my mother hasn't even bothered to give us a call," he said.

Earlier on Saturday, Madam Ong, the oldest of five siblings, visited her 88-year-old mother at Singapore General Hospital, where she was warded for a stroke a few weeks ago.

She later cycled to a wake at Block 533 Bedok North Street 3 and had dinner with a friend.

She was cycling back to her home in Chai Chee Street when the accident happened.

Her younger sister, Madam Ong Bee Yan, 64, said she was in good health, with no serious medical conditions.

"If my sister is in this condition because of an illness, it is easier to accept," she said.

"But she was perfectly fine and so healthy. It is so painful, with my mother in hospital, and now my sister is in a critical condition."

Friends described Madam Ong as a jovial woman with a warm heart who was active in the neighbourhood.

Her long-time friend, Mr David Tan, 52, said she often helped out at the stalls in their neighbourhood coffee shop.

"Whenever she strikes lottery, she would buy food for all of us," he said.

Several politicians also visited Madam Ong yesterday.

Grassroots adviser for Aljunied GRC Grassroots Organisations Shamsul Kamar said he has observed a number of errant PMD riders in the estate. His team patrols crowded areas near coffee shops and markets once a month.

"We have been trying our best, so it is sad when accidents like these still happen," said Mr Kamar, whose team has been working with the Land Transport Authority for two years on the problem.

Aljunied GRC MP Pritam Singh said the safety of PMDs has been discussed in town councils frequently.

"It could have happened anywhere. Stepping up enforcement and education has to be the way to go," he said.