Unlucky 13th, a serious motorcycle accident.

18.7.2009.

Monday 13th. was unlucky for me, not that I'm superstitious. Early in the morning I had my quarterly medical check-up at the Government clinic in Paroi. This, I thought, was the one day every three months that I have to put aside my morning constitutional for my date with the Family Specialist. The aging machine needs regular monitoring now - it's more than six decades old ! It took all of two hours, but I get to see a Specialist and a supply of some Class A medicinals all for free, one of the perks of a government pensioner. At this age, in this age, old age can be expensive, you know. Thank God for the pension scheme.

Then we picked up the wife at 12 for lunch at "Kak Long" of "Metropole" fame (old Serembanians know what I'm talking about). Last week Bang Pie & Kak Ani came and we brought them there, too, at the MPS stalls in Ampangan. After that I changed transport to my speedy kapcai, the Yamaha LC 135. It's the fastest of the kapcais. It's very convenient for the short hops to town for a quick trip to the banks and such- no traffic jams, no parking woes. I wanted to make quick work of the trip to town for renewing the insurance and road tax for the 1994 Volvo GL(A). Normally the trip itself would be about 10 minutes only ! Now, this is my 4th. kapcai, in slow succession, from 1965, with first one, a Honda 90 I bought when I entered the U. at Pantai Valley. In between I had acquired two superbikes, in early 1991, a Kawasaki Vulcan 750 cc Cruiser, and a Honda CBR F2 600 cc Sportsbike. I hold a full "B" licence, which means no limit on the size of the motorcycle engine. The fastest I'd been on the CBR 600 was 260 kph, on the Tg. Malim highway.

Up to the 12th of July, 2009, I've had a grand total of one accident on all of these machines. That was in 1966 at Jalan Maktab, with my cousin Kamil,recently deceased, who was in the army stationed at Padang Tembak at that time, riding pillion. It was entirely that car's fault, then, and I remember every detail to this day.

This 1 pm 13th July accident I have no memory of until to-day. I remember riding on on to the main Kuala Pilah-Seremban road as I exited from the Plaza Ampangan shop-houses. I remember approaching that multiple-cross roads to Jelebu, Sikamat and town-centre, with the multi-faceted traffic-lights. This was lunch-hour traffic. The next thing I knew was regaining my consciousness, stripped of my pants, shoes, crash-helmet, and back-pack, with a very big headache, in a hospital bed at the Seremban Tuanku Jaafar Hospital, with several people with their hands all over me, cleaning my wounds, taking blood sample, giving an injection, and further undressing me. I remember to say weakly to no one in particular to call my wife. After a few times one of the people attending  me finally responded and asked for the number and name to call. Fortunately I somehow still remember the house phone number. He or she came back shortly saying my wife had been located. 

When I gained full alertness later I looked for my injuries and found the treated wounds on the top of both hands, both wrists, both knees, the right ankle, my right jaw and my right shoulder. I learned that I had been x-rayed all-over- all four limbs, head and chest. The good news was nothing was broken except the wounds mentioned. They gave me a couple of large pills after I complained of the headache. A gentleman on the right side of my bed railings introduced himself as the driver of the car that I apparently had crashed into. He wasn't sure, except for the sound and the jarring he felt at the back of his car. He said I was avoiding a 6-wheeled truck that had jumped the traffic light. I cannot recall his face now, but remember thanking him, because he said he's the one who took me to the GH, and had a friend take my kapcai to his quarters - this chap is a police personnel. I believe that if I was not immediately taken from the scene of the accident, in my unconscious state, I would have been exposed to the real possibility of being run over by the heavy lunch hour traffic. This is known to have happened. This chap also made sure my wallet, my cards-holder and my Rolex wristwatch were safe with ma at the ward. I had all my credit cards and about RM 1,200 cash with me. The watch is a 1990 gift worth RM 5,000.

When I asked No.2 Son the next day  to collect the kapcai, I gave him some money to buy a suitable present for the policeman. No. 3 Son also offered, I learned later, to pay for whatever repairs the guy would have to do to his damaged car. All my four children, including my youngest daughter, who is attending a two-week orientation course at the Institut Latihan Kehakiman & Perundangan in Bangi on her appointment to the Attorney General's Chambers in Putrajaya, came, soon after their mother arrived. I was still in a state of daze at that time, but remember the third son and the daughter being emotional. I can't remember what were exactly said, but it was to the effect that I shouldn't ride any more. I suppose that is the natural thing to say. I didn't say anything. I was only consoled that all five loved ones were around me, hugging me, talking to me, concerned, and me with my giant headche.

I asked the attending doctor the next day to allow me to go home, since, except for the drip stuck to my right hand the entire time in the ward, I was not invalid with any serious bodily injury. For the whole time, all of ten hours, I think, no food was given except for some water for the pills for my headache. I thought they said they wanted to observe for internal injury. In fact the next morning I was wheeled to the dental department because they suspected I had a pencil-lined fracture on my facial bone. Because of the swelling on the right side of my face, they gave me an appointment to check me again on the 22nd. 

I went back to the ward, was given lunch that I barely touched, and waited for the discharge papers. I only have praise for the speedy and professional way medical treatment was given to me. I don't have too much experience in emergency hospital treatments, personal or otherwise, but this is one experience that I can appreciate, though didn't anticipate. Waiting for the release papers, I thought, was spoiling my otherwise appreciative mood, because it really took a very long time. So I said to myself, it's their medical work, not their paper work that I should appreciate. When, at last, after I had asked my children to find out what was holding them up, the several pieces of notes were given to me, together with a small supply of solutions and medicines, then I realized how worthwhile the wait was. There in that bundle were discharge notes, follow up notes, the medicines, and even notes for health insurance purposes. I felt a bit embarasssed for my impatience, shown earlier, when I should have been, well,  patient. Thank you Ward 3 B, Tuanku Jaafar Hospital ,Seremban, and Dr. Ng Keat Keng and all his staff. 

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