Who can be blamed for this grave mistake?

Stretcher carrying injured man collapses twice

By Juliana Menon

Motorcyclist Yu Yew Kuan lies injured on the road next to the stretcher while passersby help him. ― Malay Mail pic

PETALING JAYA, Sept 13 — “Bad luck comes in 3s”, so goes the maxim, which aptly describes events which befell a Negri Sembilan senior citizen — now deceased.

Yu Yew Kuan, while riding his motorcycle, was involved in a collision with another motorcycle in Jalan Besar Kim Loong, Jelebu.

The 62-year-old was knocked unconscious, sustaining fractures to his right arm and leg.

He remained on the street for more than 15 minutes under the scorching heat, and Samaritans, who rushed to his aid, used umbrellas to shield him.

Passersby called emergency services, but according to them, it took the ambulance about 20 minutes to arrive from Jelebu Hospital on August 6.

When the ambulance crew rolled out the wheeled stretcher and were about to lift Yu onto the flat bed, one set of wheels buckled inwards.

The crew readjusted the wheels, then used a hand carry stretcher to move Yu back onto the wheeled stretcher before rushing him to the hospital in the ambulance.

Some of the Samaritans who earlier helped Yu also followed the ambulance.

Shockingly, upon being taken out from the ambulance to the hospital’s Emergency and Trauma Department, the same set of wheels buckled inwards again, throwing Yu forward.

He landed face down on the road and started bleeding profusely from his head and facial injuries, according to Yu’s daughter, May Yu Chan Tien.

With the help of medical assistants on duty, they lifted Yu back onto the same stretcher and rushed him to the Emergency and Trauma Department.

May said when the wheels first retracted at the accident scene, the ambulance crew was quick to fix it.

“When the wheels buckled again at the hospital, my father was hurled onto the ground because he was not properly strapped in,” she said.

“My father’s head was bleeding heavily. Even after that, the hospital staff refused to take any responsibility.”

Yu was admitted to the Emergency and Trauma Department, but several hours later, he was transferred to the Seremban Hospital more than 35km away.

“I was told the transfer was necessary as his condition had worsened,” May said.

Yu succumbed to his injuries at about 11.50pm the same day.

“I can’t believe all this happened ... I never got a chance to hear his last words,” May said. She said she was still mourning and was at her wits’ end on what to do next.