A freak accident in Johor Baru has left a Singaporean dead and another man injured after they were hit by a car last Friday (Aug 25).
The two had been part of a group who’d gone for a late night supper at a coffee shop near New York Hotel at Jalan Dato Abdullah Tahir — it was a gathering of friends to catch up with one another, The New Paper reported.
The supper, however, ended in tragedy. Justinian Tan and Brandon Thenerd Yeo, both 25, had been walking back to their car after the meal around 3am when a Proton Saga hit them from behind. One of the group noted that the driver of the Proton drove off instead of stopping to help the injured.
The collision caused Tan to be flung metres away. He loss consciousness but started convulsing and coughing out a lot of blood. Yeo was conscious, but broke his femur.
Passers-by helped to call the police and ambulance, which conveyed them to Sultanah Aminah Hospital. At the hospital, their friends were told to pay up before doctors could treat them, which they did, according to STOMP. More money was demanded for Tan’s case, as he needed another operation due to bleeding in his brain. Even so, they were told that the operation would be conducted by a medical officer instead of a proper surgeon.
Presumably exasperated, the friends called up the Singapore Embassy, which arranged for a private ambulance in Malaysia to pick up Tan and Yeo and convey them back home. Tan was sent to Singapore General Hospital in critical condition, while Yeo was sent to Gleneagles Hospital.
By that time, it had already been close to 10 hours since the accident. Doctors had to explain that “too long had passed” and Tan’s injuries were too severe. He was pronounced brain dead on Sunday (Aug 28).
Yeo — who broke his left thigh bone — has since been discharged from Gleneagles Hospital.
Tan’s parents kept their son on life support for a couple of days for his friends to visit and say their last goodbyes. It was around 12:45am on Aug 30 that his parents pulled the plug. His wake was held last night in Serangoon.
As for the driver who killed Tan, passers-by managed to take down his car’s license plate number and the friends have since returned to Johor to file a police report.
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