Singapore – “Knowing I was near my starting point where I thought my dog Hiro and my helper Darmi were waiting, I shouted loudly, ‘Hiro help, Hiro help, anybody help.’ But was met by dead silence,” wrote Dr Lee Wei Ling on social media as she recalled her injury, which happened a few months ago while she was alone.
Dr Lee, the younger sister of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, took to Facebook on Thursday (September 3) to give a detailed account of the incident which occurred while she was walking along Fort Canning Park on July 5. “The moon was shining brightly with enough lighting to walk but not enough to prevent me from getting lost,” said Dr Lee. As she made a turn towards a dead-end, Dr Lee heard a snapping sound followed by a sharp pain in her right thigh when she took a step.
Having gone through a similar experience before, she knew she had fractured her right femur. Dr Lee fell on her back and tried to crawl back to the path amid intense pain around the fracture site. “My ability to Ren (忍) or put up with the pain was overwhelmed.” Aware that she was near her starting point where perhaps her dog or helper could hear her, the 65-year-old neurologist tried shouting, yet was met with dead silence. “I was not afraid after all this is Singapore where no one can remain lost for long,” she added hopefully.
Eventually, she was met with a group of policemen, torchlights in hand, who were out searching for her. “I have never been happier to see our men in navy blue uniforms before,” said Dr Lee. “They too were delighted to see me as their task was to find me.”
When asked which hospital she wanted to be taken to, Dr Lee answered “Singapore General Hospital” without hesitation, noting it was the country’s premier hospital which had treated her for many years in the past.
Dr Lee mentioned that she had fallen asleep at her spot “on the damp dark soil” at around 8 pm and was found by the police at 2 am. “I didn’t realise so many hours have passed, and that explains my uncomfortably full bladder. I also had many small black ants crawling all over me.”
She was quickly attended to, her fractured femur operated and fixed with a rod which spared her weeks on traction and months of rehabilitation. “I am grateful to the police who found me, the ambulance staff who immobilised my leg, and took me to hospital, and the doctors and nurses who looked after me while I was warded.”
This was not the first time Dr Lee shared with the public about her personal experiences. On August 8, she revealed that she was diagnosed with a rare brain disorder called Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), one without a known cure. Despite being faced with such challenges, Dr Lee continues to practice Ren (忍) and pushes on, “recognising that life has many unpleasant, unavoidable situations.”
https://www.facebook.com/38OxleyRoad/posts/1664900030344861
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