SINGAPORE - The family of a premature infant, saved by an emergency caesarean section when her mother died after a road accident, has received an outpouring of concern.
Some have also offered to donate breast milk for the baby.
The infant's mother Goh Chieh Ting, 25, was six months pregnant when she was hit by a lorry on Saturday (May 13) while crossing a road in Jurong West Avenue 1.
Ms Goh died at 9.30am in the hospital due to severe head injuries while her baby, Yu En, survived and is in stable condition at the National University Hospital.
The family considered appealing through online donations portal Giving.sg for funds and donations of milk for the baby. But The Straits Times understands that while Yu En is in the hospital, she will not require donated breast milk from the public.
Instead, the hospital will source for the milk if there is a need.
In an e-mail sent at around 4am on Monday (May 15) to Giving.sg, Ms Goh's sister-in-law, Ms Nicole Yuen, said: "Baby Yu En lost her mother just a day before Mother's Day."
Writing on behalf of her brother Dave, who is Yu En's father, Ms Yuen added that the infant "has to be incubated in the Neonatal ICU (Intensive Care Unit) for the next three to four months".
But she "is in a stable condition and demonstrates a strong will to live on".
In a response later that day, a spokesman for Giving.sg said it was "deeply saddened by the loss that Dave and his family has encountered", expressing its condolences to the family.
It added that it would like to speak to her family to explore ways of raising funds for Yu En.
Responding to media queries, it added that it is currently matching Yu En's family's needs to a charity to start a fund-raising campaign.
Meanwhile, the 46-year-old lorry driver involved in the accident said he hit Ms Goh while trying to avoid her mother-in-law, whom she was crossing the road with.
Speaking to Chinese evening daily Shin Min Daily News, he added that he has had difficulty sleeping since the incident, and feels terrible about it.
He also keeps asking himself why he failed to see Ms Goh on the day of the incident.
