A Personal Mobility Device (PMD) rider who was passing along Keppel Road last weekend chanced upon an elderly pedestrian lying half-conscious on the sidewalk, bleeding from a head wound and offered first-aid to the injured man.
The good samaritan, Iman Mohammad, shared a video on Facebook showing the injured man sitting on the sidewalk splattered with blood. The injured pedestrian has some cloth held behind his head, presumably to stop the bleeding.
Revealing that he was waiting for an ambulance to fetch the man, Iman said in the video: “Discovered this man lying on the ground, all by himself.”
Iman said the elderly man did not understand English and could not provide any coherent answers to what had happened. The PMD rider and the pedestrian, who appeared to have trouble breathing, could only communicate through hand gestures.
A short while later, a Chinese-speaking Singaporean alighted from a bus at the nearby bus stop and helped Iman ask the elderly man how the accident happened. The pedestrian said he sprained his ankle and fell backwards, hitting his head.
Iman, who noticed that the man’s ankle was swollen, said the ambulance arrived soon enough to take over.
In the caption to his Facebook video, which has garnered over 27,000 views, Iman said that he hopes the incident shows that not all PMD users are a nuisance.
He wrote: “Not all PMD users are nuisance, some are life savers as well. So, please do not give bad impression on PMD users cause they might be the first responders to just save your life, or the life of your loved ones especially in remote places. Remember that!!”
https://www.facebook.com/nismo.flameboy/videos/10159244438457178/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBgiPnWOoY6f9hcUTIi3wGigXodz1FJsV17mK1f45Hjrvo88zJ4nnwn3UwCQUk7bGM1JWuxcFuaGvbOBggaU19AKCZCcVfSYvVWdMrdFPmo1_KPwg-ow7teS-wiN0-Yb-DridjbrESwF1ERQTriF8TTyrGbHzdQIekIvTDWirWZC733SpjQJDJANhwGqy4v-8aOykCzvM4dq1mCXZEJAj5x_7W-BYJPcPkGSQHn6psXK7EsoB4_MRv0mfTKVN65ub2UTbty0E_sZTbWeDcl8NlFKBBuGoiuoCLXm2CvQPAjdhGraHN3RY8-guy9uxWBhu2-jo4cSuRKhncXuP1YJQbfgPT_xvbC0fgLjgoP&__tn__=H-R
This latest incident comes after worrying clashes between pedestrians and PMD users led the Government to ban PMD users from using public footpaths.
The abrupt ban which went into effect the day after it was announced, drew backlash from PMD users and an online petition calling on the Government to reverse the ban quickly drew tens of thousands of signatures.
The ban particularly left food delivery riders, who rely on PMDs to make a living, in the lurch and hundreds of food delivery riders have been flocking to PAP MPs’ Meet-the-People sessions, seeking an alternative solution.
Food delivery riders have lamented that the ban will severely curtail their income and have held that the bulk of clashes between PMD riders and pedestrians are not caused by food delivery riders who use their PMDs for work, not play.
A peaceful rally for food delivery riders to voice their concerns is to take place on Saturday, Nov 23 from 5pm to 10pm at the Speakers’ Corner at Hong Lim Park. The rally is hosted by All Singapore Stuff – a social media page with nearly half a million followers.
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