Tanjong Pagar crash: Raybe Oh needs multiple operations next year but says she's 'getting a lot better'

Ms Raybe Oh, (left, in a file photo), had tried to rescue her fiance from a burning car after it crashed into a shophouse in Tanjong Pagar. PHOTOS: ST FILE, LIANHE ZAOBAO
Video footage of the crash showed Ms Raybe Oh running towards the burning car. PHOTOS: ST READER

SINGAPORE - She will be spending a significant amount of time in hospital next year with multiple reconstructive surgical operations scheduled, but Ms Raybe Oh Siew Huey, 26, appears to be in good spirits.

Speaking to The Straits Times on Friday (Nov 26), Ms Oh said: "I still have to go through a few reconstructive surgical operations in the following year. Recovery is slow but I'm getting a lot better."

Ms Oh suffered severe burns to about 80 per cent of her body earlier this year while trying to rescue her fiance, Mr Jonathan Long, 29, and four friends, from a burning car after it crashed into a shophouse in Tanjong Pagar.

All five men died in the accident.

The former air stewardess and getai singer said on Friday she is grateful to those who have reached out to her with kind words and messages of support.

Mr Long was driving a BMW when it crashed into the shophouse around 5.40am on Feb 13.

There were four other men in the vehicle - Mr Eugene Yap, 29, Mr Elvin Tan Yong Hao, 28, Mr Wilson Teo Qi Xiang, 26, and Mr Gary Wong Hong Chieh, 29.

A video of the accident showed Ms Oh running to the flaming car in an attempt to save the men.

She was later seen emerging from the inferno covered in flames and running towards some shophouses across the road.

She was rushed to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and warded in the intensive care unit. After a little over a week, her condition stabilised and she was moved to a high-dependency ward.

She was discharged in June, but on Thursday (Nov 25), Ms Oh told ST that she was back in SGH.

"I'm back at hospital again to do surgery," she said.

"Will be warded for a month this time."

Ms Raybe Oh Siew Huey posted an update on Instagram, thanking everyone for their kind messages. PHOTOS: ST FILE, RAYBE OH/INSTAGRAM
Ms Raybe Oh recently posted a picture of them on her Instagram stories. PHOTOS: SCREENGRAB FROM INSTAGRAM, ST FILE

Ms Oh also posted an update on her Instagram stories on Thursday thanking everyone for their kind messages.

Her social media accounts had been inactive following the accident until March, when she posted a photo of Mr Long on Instagram, wishing him a happy birthday and saying that she missed him.

In September and October, she also posted photos of food from several eateries.

Recently, she posted an old photo of herself and Mr Long with a heart shape.

SPH Brightcove Video
Four days after the horrific car crash in Tanjong Pagar killed five young men, a video exclusively obtained by The Straits Times shows the car slamming into a shophouse and a young woman running into the flames to try to save her boyfriend.

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