|
AT HIS BROTHER'S SIDE: Malaysian Osman Evos, 17, beside his brother Abu Bakar, 25, who lost his left leg and right foot while working at a waste-paper recycling firm last Tuesday. Mr Abu Bakar plans to start a small eatery in his village in Sabah and let his family members run it when he returns home. -- ST PHOTOS: LAU FOOK KONG
|
|
|
IN HIS darkest moments two years ago, film-maker Bertrand Lee thought he would never walk again. He had been in a traffic accident which lost him his left leg and left the other seriously injured.
Now he wants to show Malaysian worker Abu Bakar Evos, who lost his left leg and right foot in a horrific workplace accident, that there is reason to hope that he will walk again.
Mr Abu Bakar, 25, was at work at a waste-paper recycling firm last Tuesday when he climbed into a paper compactor and the machine was activated. He lost his left leg below the knee and had his right foot severed.
Mr Lee, 30, who now gets about on a prosthetic leg, wants to help Mr Abu Bakar cope with his loss. 'I would be able to help him in a way that normal people wouldn't be able to,' Mr Lee said.
Recalling the support he received after his accident, he said: 'I think it's time to return the goodwill and to pay it forward.'
Singapore mountain climber David Lim is also keen to share with Mr Abu Bakar the research he did on prosthetics after having being paralysed for six months in 1998 from the rare Guillain-Barre Syndrome.
'I understand the challenges he may face and I would like to see him get the best long-term solution,' Mr Lim added.
Mr Abu Bakar has already undergone two operations.
When the Straits Times visited him yesterday afternoon, his 17-year-old brother Osman was at his bedside. The teenager, who had arrived from Sabah last week to work in a factory here, could not find his older brother for three days.
He learnt of the accident from the newspapers and immediately made his way to the hospital last Friday. Osman has since called home to break the news to the family.
'Of course I'm sad. He is still young and has three kids to look after. But it's fate,' he said resignedly.
Mr Abu Bakar said he tries not to think about the incident any more and is focusing on his life ahead instead. He plans to start a small eatery in his village in Sabah and let his family members run it when he returns home.
The donations that have come in for him from readers moved by his plight may help him realise this plan. Changi General Hospital, where he is warded, is coordinating these donations and will hand them over to him when he leaves the hospital.
He said of the donors: 'I do not know how to repay the kindness shown by them.'
carolynq@sph.com.sg
chaihyn@sph.com.sg
|
