By Zubaidah Nazeer
zubaidah@sph.com.sg

HE was in unusually high spirits that February morning last year, when he left home to spend the last working day with his employer.

Service technician Kassim, 38, had got another job which would pay him a few hundred more than the $1,700 a month he was earning.

(We cannot use his real name because of a pending legal suit.)

He was relishing a dream holiday with his wife and four children and that cherished pilgrimage to Mecca.

But fate intervened to dash his hopes.

The motorcycle he was on was involved in a collision with a car. The impact sent Mr Kassim flying and left him with severe head injuries.

Today, he is bedridden and depends on his wife, Siti, (not her real name), 35, a housewife, to keep the family together.

Other than her three boys and one girl, aged from 8 to 14, she has to care for her 79-year-old uncle who lives in their four-room flat.

More than a year has passed since the accident but Mr Kassim is still bedridden.

He cannot control his bowel movements and has to use adult diapers.

Said Madam Siti: 'Now, every time he needs to go to the toilet to wash up, I have to help him. I also help him bathe and that takes some time'.

Madam Siti recalled that fateful day.

'I had just spoken to him about an hour before that, and he seemed cheerful because it was his last day of work. He had also sms-ed me sweet words earlier, saying he would come home and massage my leg because I had complained of a pain. He is always sweet like that.'

It was a friend who informed her about the accident.

Madam Siti collapsed. Her memory after that became a blur. But she remembers being helped onto a wheelchair in hospital, wailing with inconsolable grief as she tried to sign a consent form for her husband to be operated on.

She said of the moment he was wheeled into the ICU of National University Hospital after the operation: 'The only way I could tell it was him was when I saw his goatee. The rest of him was bandaged up. It hit me hard... I felt my whole world was gone.'

Mr Kassim was in a coma for a month.

Looking after him and their young children full-time has taken its toll.

HOSPITALISED TWICE HERSELF

In the course of the year, she was herself hospitalised twice, one of which was for endometriosis, a condition which causes tissue similar to the lining of the womb to grow in places outside the womb, causing severe pain. She was told it flared up due to fatigue and stress.

Her husband has since undergone four major surgeries - two on the brain, and two to insert tubes into his head and chest.

Doctors have told Madam Siti that her husband's cognitive abilities, which include thought and logic, are permanently gone. His right vision is partially damaged.

Doctors said he would probably be 'dependent on others, for life'.

He gets numerous seizures. In an attack early this year, he turned bluish and was frothing at the mouth and had to be hospitalised for four months.

There are also thrice-weekly visits to Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital for rehabilitation sessions.

On a good day, Kassim utters a few words and breaks into smiles. But he still hardly talks. He can move his hands and legs and can feel pain.

Madam Siti says she is grateful that her husband's condition has improved as he can now recognise her, glance at her and mime words.

Despite this, her morning ritual is to greet him, kiss his cheeks and have conversations with him, though he may not look at her or respond.

She tries to be cheerful, but is worried about the mounting hospital costs and the family's daily living expenses.

Her husband, she said, has exhausted his Medisave of $16,000 and used up $7,000 of his brother's Medisave to pay for his months of subsidised hospital bills and consultation charges.

The family doesn't have much savings and has dipped into whatever funds it has, like the $8,000 meant for the pilgrimage. The fund has dwindled to less than $1,000 now, she added.

Said Madam Siti: 'We did not have much savings because all that he earned was just enough for our daily expenses. We didn't really need anything extra.'

They had not bought life insurance as they did not have enough money.

The family now eats only one midday meal a day.

She said contributions from people have helped the family a little.

Teachers and students in her 13-year-old daughter's madrasah class collected some money for them when they passed the hat around.

And one of Mr Kassim's friends has been giving Madam Siti $100 every month.

Relatives also chip in, helping to cook some meals for them.

Unable to pay for their four-room Jurong West flat, which they bought two years ago, she has applied for HDB's Home Protection Scheme (HPS) to cover her $500 monthly mortgage payment.

This was the amount her husband used to pay through CPF for the flat.

Now, Madam Siti estimates that she has another $100,000 more of the loan to repay. Her MP at the Meet-The-People session has told her to downgrade.

She said: 'For now I am covered and I am not sure if I can sell the flat if I am covered under HPS.'

(HPS is a scheme that aims to protect CPF members and their families against losing their homes should the insured members become permanently incapacitated or die before the housing loans are paid up.)

Southwest CDC has provided a three-month financial assistance plan of $500 monthly, which expires this month.

She has also applied to get her children's education subsidised.

Suggest seeking help from relatives and Madam Siti will say she does not want to burden them.

Her siblings and her husband's siblings have their share of family responsibilities, she said.

Her mother has to care for her elderly father who suffered two strokes and was recently diagnosed with a form of blood cancer.

Said Madam Siti, who did not go on a honeymoon with her husband when they got married 15 years ago: 'I worry when I think of what will happen when the money runs out.'

Madam Siti, who has an O-level education, wants to work. She worked as a bank teller for a few years before she got married.

SHE WANTS TO WORK BUT...
But as soon as she thinks about working, her mind drifts to how unpredictable her husband's seizures are.

Explained Madam Siti, who has been reading up on traumatic brain surgery: 'I fear the worst each time it happens because from what I read and what some therapists tell me, he can slip into a coma or may not pull through at all. So I want to be there when the seizures happen.'

She says she does not sleep well, but this can be a blessing.

'Others think it's a curse but insomnia is the best thing that can happen to me. Now it's easy for me to check on him at night... should he suddenly have fits.'

SINCE Mr Kassim works in a job that requires him to travel and fix electronics parts, his company covers his hospitalisation and injuries.

According to the Workmen's Compensation Act, a workman injured in a work-related accident is entitled to claim medical expenses, medical-leave wages and compensation for permanent incapacity, if any.

Employers have to cover all medical expenses incurred due to such injuries.

The Workman Compensation is a form of compensation cover provided by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

Responding to queries, a spokesman at Mr Kassim's company, an IT company in Kallang dealing with telecommunications and electronics parts, said Mr Kassim is covered under the Act.

He is eligible as he is a workman, classified as a senior technician, and was on his way to work on a compulsory mode of transport.

WITHDREW APPLICATION

But Madam Siti has withdrawn the application to pursue claims under Common Law - claims made in a civil suit against other parties involved in the accident - on the advice of her lawyer.

A friend had advised her to hire a lawyer to look into claims.

The police also confirmed the accident but said that they are still investigating.

The court case is set for the end of the month at the High Court.