A daughter is publicly mourning her father today after he succumbed to injuries sustained in a fall aboard a public Singapore bus.
Siah Hwan Ling, 30, this morning published her heartfelt letter addressed to her 68-year-old father Siah Keok Tiang, who died yesterday over a week after an emergency stop sent him toppling to the bus floor where he punctured his lung, fracturing his spine and hemorrhaging his brain.
“Thank you, Dad! You are the best dad, the most amazing dad. We are thankful for everything that you have done for us,” she wrote in Mandarin. “You go ahead, don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. Do you understand? I love you forever!”
Since the Sept. 8 incident in which her father was thrown to the floor of a bus 175 on North Bridge Road, Siah has been updating her followers – and searching for witnesses who can help her understand what happened.
She said her father died soon after losing consciousness at about 7am.
“Sorry, everyone, thank you for all the prayers. We really appreciate it. My father didn’t make it. He has passed away,” she wrote.
Her appeal for witnesses posted hours after her father’s fall resonated with Singaporeans, who made it go viral. She complained about a slow response from bus operator SBS Transit.
“The question is, why such [a] serious accident has happened in the bus, they did not even give us a call and inform us about the details[?] It sent us running around looking for information,” she wrote.
SBS Transit the next day said CCTV footage showed that Siah “lost his footing” and was “thrown forward” after the bus suddenly braked to avoid hitting a car entering its lane. Siah was seated near the front door and was going to alight at Bugis Cube shopping mall, the next stop.
The unnamed 43-year-old car driver that allegedly cut the bus off was later arrested. A police investigation is still underway.
Siah was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit due to bleeding in his brain and other serious injuries.
“Whenever I see the doctor, they will sigh and say that my father is in critical condition and as you age, it takes a long time for the body to recover. They will try to help you recover, but every doctor says it’s difficult to recover back to where you were before,” she wrote.
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