Teacher hit by van at pedestrian crossing outside school

SINGAPORE - She had just ended her day in school on Tuesday when she decided to do some shopping before heading home.

The last thing that Mrs Eileen Pua Jiu Er, a 31-year-old chemistry teacher with River Valley High School in Boon Lay, says she remembers is stepping onto a pedestrian crossing near the main gate of the school when the lights turned green.

When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to find herself lying in an unfamiliar bed, wondering where she was and how she had ended up there.

Mrs Pua, who has been with River Valley High since 2010, found out she had been out cold after a van knocked her down as she was crossing Boon Lay Avenue at around noon.

She suffered shoulder and rib fractures and several facial scars.

She told The New Paper from her bed at the National University Hospital (NUH) on Thursday: "I was planning to bake for my family later in the evening so I decided to buy some baking ingredients before heading home.

"I was crossing the road and the next thing I knew, I was in a hospital bed.

"The first thoughts that came to my mind were where I was and why I was here.

"It was only after I asked a doctor standing near my bed did I realise I had been involved in an accident."

Mrs Pua, who was unconscious for about two hours, said: "I am very sure it was a green light before I crossed the road."

Her husband, Mr Pua Jiunn Jin, 36, found out about the accident while he was having his lunch at around 1pm.

The IT application adviser said: "My mother-in-law called to tell me that her daughter was involved in a car accident and was sent to NUH.

"I told myself to stay calm and I called the hospital to check before rushing there from Woodlands."

The couple were told by doctors that Mrs Pua is now in a stable condition and could be discharged in a few days.

She might need to undergo physiotherapy before she recovers fully.

They said they were told by doctors that her right arm might not be as strong as before and she might not be able to do any heavy lifting.

Worried

Mrs Pua is more worried about her only child than about her injuries. She has a five-month-old girl.

"Thankfully, my mother-in-law is taking care of her," she said.

The principal of River Valley High School and some colleagues visited Mrs Pua on Thursday.

In a Facebook post that has already been shared more than 3,000 times, Mr Pua called for witnesses of the accident to come forward to help the police investigations.

He said: "Hopefully, the post can spread around Facebook and eyewitnesses can step up to help us find out what happened exactly."

A man who was at the scene of the accident told Shin Min Daily News: "I heard a bang and saw a woman lying in the middle of the road, bleeding heavily from her head and neck."

The man, who wanted to be known only as Mr Huang, said two motorcyclists rushed to the victim and bandaged her head to stop the bleeding and tried to keep her awake until the ambulance arrived.

He added that after the van hit the victim, it veered to the right and hit the barriers in the middle of the road before it stopped.

A man who works in the area said he was surprised to see a van in the middle of the road when he returned from lunch.

"I didn't see any victim there, but I took note of the van licence plate number so I could buy 4-D," he said.

Ms Saw Yu Hnin, who lives in Block 260, on the other side of the road, said: "I was with my two-year-old son when I heard a loud sound from the road. I thought it was some roadworks and didn't think twice about it.

"It was only 10 to 15 minutes later when I saw ambulances and police cars that I realised there was an accident. A white van was in the middle of the road and a jam was forming."

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it received a call at 12.19pm on Tuesday and an ambulance reached the scene within three minutes.

A police spokesman said investigations are ongoing.

Get The New Paper for more stories.