A trip to the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) clinic for a massage proved to have unexpected, tragic consequences for young Serene Lim.
The 27-year-old suffered a seizure during the tuina session, slipped into a coma and passed away an hour later.
Lianhe Wanbao reports that Lim had gone for a 7.30pm massage session last Sunday at the Qing Kang Integrated Chinese Medicine Clinic at Midpoint Orchard shopping mall. Midway during the two-hour session — involving brushing, kneading, rolling, pressing and rubbing along the meridians of the body — Lim’s body shook violently.
After she slipped into a coma, a clinic employee alerted the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and followed their guided instructions on performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her. An ambulance later conveyed Lim to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where she was pronounced dead around 8.50pm.
According to the clinic’s director, Ji Furong, she was not familiar with any cases in the TCM sector in which customers suffered seizures during tuina sessions. Ji, as well as a physician and another employee, are assisting the police in their investigations.
Lim is the only child in her family, and was supposed to have started a new job at a bank the day after the fatal massage.
