Kuala Lumpur

The weekend was wonderful and it still is. I’m gonna have another long day today.

It was Sunday the 8th of March 2009 and it was about 2 in the afternoon. I was driving back home from Ampang after a late brunch. I was at the huge intersection on Jalan Ampang and Jalan Tun Razak heading back to KLCC. The traffic light shows red for the road I’m on and the next go would be ours.

I was playing around with my camera, taking snapshots of my phone and there is a reason for it.
Seconds later, the traffic light turns green. We got a go!

Next thing I see. *BAAAMM!!!* A black BMW ran the red light at the opposite intersection, turning right onto Jalan Tun Razak towards US Embassy. A man riding a motorbike crash onto the back of the BMW and flew out of his bike.

The BMW fled the scene. It happened so fast that I got shocked to see that right in front of me. Lucky the victim that I’m going slow, else I would have ran over his head on the road. I would assume the car was a BMW, given the back profile of the car. That driver drove VERY FAST.

I stop my car just by the traffic light after the rider and ran down to see how he is doing. I see a lady in Gen2 coming down from her to come and help too.

I squat beside the victim and I ran a quick view on his condition before touching or moving him.

His eyes is shut. He is not moving. His left arm bruised from the fall. His left palm got a cut near his thumb. His is seen shaken.

Good thing about watching 911 back then is that I’ve learned some good points on what should I do when faced in this situation. I saw a guy on the phone and I asked him if he was calling the ambulance. He just nods his head. I ask the victim if he can move his leg. He kept quite. His eyes are still shut, from the pain I’m guessing. I asked him to try moving his leg again. He did but he struggled moving his left arm. He gestured with his right arm, putting a pat on his left arm saying very softly “patah“.

I let out in despair, “Oh God”.

Lifting my head up, I see a lot of people around me and the Gen2 lady. Most of them are motorbike riders. I’ve got a guy with his family in his Toyota Alphard asking if he is okay. OF COURSE HE IS NOT OKAY! The kind of question people ask! Stupid! Some guys helped with the victim’s bike left on the middle of the intersection and cleared the road from the accident debris.

The victim said in grievance tone, “Ambik tepilah. Panas!“. Takes no genius to guess further. The group of people moved him up to the curb. They all said a short Muslim prayer before moving him. What fascinate me is that, they all said it simultaneously. I smiled, knowing that he will be well taken care in God’s will.

I looked around for cloths to make a temporary arm sling to hold his arm close to his chest. Gen2 lady offered her help and she did mentioned that she works for Prince Court Medical Centre just down the road. I found the victim’s raincoat on his bike and passed it on to Gen2 lady. She made the arm sling.

We sat him down, resting his back on the traffic light with the support of Happy Pillow.

The Gen2 lady asked me if the ambulance has been called. I said, “Yes, the guy over there called already”. I asked the guy again, he just nod and pulled a long face which prompted me to call 999 myself. This time, thank godness the operator didn’t ask me for my race after taking down my name and phone number. I called 999 once back then and the operator asked me my race, and if the victim is Malay or Chinese and a lot of stupid question.

Gen2 lady said to send him to the nearest hospital instead which is Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) nearby on Jalan Pahang. I offered my help as other doesn’t seem to be very helpful either. I canceled the ambulance with the 999 operator and took the victim to HKL. One big size guy said I shouldn’t worry about moving him around and said he is a paramedic. Why the hell when you are a paramedic, you are standing there looking and talking and not helping??!!! Para-my-ass!!!

The guys there then moved the victim into my car. Took his belongings on from his motorbike and drove off to HKL. I had to brave the on comming traffic from KLCC, crossing onto Tun Razak heading towards IJN. It was hellova crazy experience there. Those cars won’t stop!

I reached HKL in a matter of minutes and looked for the emergency stop. I stopped my car and one attendant came out. He looked at the condition of the victim. He did some check on his body joints and then asked him to stand outside, while he went on to grab a wheelchair. The wheelchair came with one front wheel missing. World class healthcare we have here. I have not gone into detail how slow he is, did I?

Making sure he is well received, I asked the attendant on what should I do next. He told me that I can go straight home and they will take care of him. But, I decided not too. I went on looking for a car park. The car park in Hospital Kuala Lumpur is the worst! I don’t understand why people just can’t understand the importance of parking when our public transportation is a national joke!! Gah!

Parked my car, went back looking for the victim. He was well taken care of by a doctor to treat his wounds and put on an arm sling for his left arm. Helped him to register for his medical treatment and waited for a number to see another doctor.

Helped him call his company and he called his wife. His company secretary seems to worry more about her work more than her employee’s ordeal. “I got an urgent work to be done, I will go and visit him later.” was what his company’s secretary said.

While waiting, I got to know that he works as a personal driver. He also helps with his office work. His name is Mat. He stays at Taman Keramat. He was on his way to KLCC when the accident happened. He insist that I go ahead if I have something to do. I told him, “Tak ape. I akan tolong abang sampai isteri abang sampai.”

I’ve got work to do, an emergency travel booking. I decided that someone’s life is more important than work. I called my ticketing manager and sought her help with my work. I need to help this guy through the hospital process. He is on wheelchair with only one arm at his disposal for goodness sake.

The process took no more than 2 1/2 hours. He had to see a GP, then get an X-Ray done, back to the GP, register for his ward, go through a long hall to “Yellow Zone” ward and stayed there for treatment.

It is when we are at the ward, I see profesionalism and felt that, if I leave him alone here, he is on good hands. But then, I’ve met a few people who has nothing to do with the hospital but lingered around there to help me with directions. The hospital should hire them, as wardens maybe?

The doctors got their diagnose done and came to a treatment schedule for him. Mat got one small broken bone at his left shoulder. The cut on his left palm needs a few stitch and he doesn’t need to be warded. This guy, seems to be a medical student on housemanship asked me some questions about the incident. He thought I was Mat’s son. I told him that I’m not and he replied “You’ve done a good thing here Thomas.”

But then, I felt that I have not done enough. I should have seen the number plate of that car, and I think it is a BMW. I should have used my camera to take a quick snap when I saw the hit and run, but I didn’t. I was looking at Mat lying on the road instead. I should have gave a chase to the BMW to take down it’s number plate, but I didn’t.

Then again, I felt good helping Mat till I see his wife and handed over his personal belonging to Mat’s wife. Left my namecard with my personal IDs to be used when he reports the incident.

I sure do hope that the camera at the intersection did recorded the accident and Mat can use that to identify the BMW number plate. Or should I hope that the camera is working instead?