Neighbours save man, pulling him from ledge

This article is more than 12 months old

Nov 13, 2018 06:00 am

He was sweeping the corridor outside his 12th-storey Yishun home when he heard shouting from above.

When Mr Mohamed Imran looked up, he saw a man on the edge of a window sill, with one leg dangling out over the ledge.

Fearing the man might be attempting suicide, he rushed upstairs.

He and a neighbour saved the 56-year-old man's life.

Yesterday, Mr Imran, 27, a security officer, who lives in Block 510B Yishun Street 51, told The New Paper that when he heard the shouting from the 13th-storey flat, his previous training from when he was in the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) kicked in.

He said that before running upstairs, he started to talk to the man from the 12th-storey, telling him to calm down.

Lifestyle

Teatime: Have we lost our kampung spirit?

Jun 28, 2024

Mr Imran told TNP that he said to the man: "Uncle, don't do anything stupid."

At the same time, he called the police and the SCDF.

He said: "The man was shouting in Mandarin and Hokkien. I didn't understand what he was saying.

"My neighbour came over to my flat to look up with me, and he helped to translate."

His neighbour, Mr Fu Wen Cai, 37, a restaurant manager, told Lianhe Wanbao he heard the man shouting: "Life is not worth living. I want to kill myself."

According to the interview with the Chinese evening daily, Mr Fu said he went upstairs and found the door to the flat unlocked. Seizing his chance, he rushed into the man's flat and pulled him from the window ledge.

The police arrived shortly after.

Mr Imran said that when he entered the flat after having called for assistance, the man was still agitated and trying to get up and return to the window.

He told TNP that the man, who was "big" was visibly drunk and had to be pinned down by Mr Fu, Mr Imran and a police officer.

Mr Imran said that even though he and his neighbour had never spoken to each other before, they were able to work together to help the man.

A police spokesman told TNP they were alerted to a case of attempted suicide at about 7.45pm.

The man was taken conscious to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and subsequently arrested for attempted suicide.