Housewife suffers serious arm fracture after fall in bus

Housewife suffers serious arm fracture after fall in bus

She didn't think it was serious after she hurt her arm after falling in a bus.

She had actually broken her bone and had to undergo an emergency surgery to have a metal plate inserted.

And because of this injury, housewife Nurlaili Rubamis, 45, could not do housework for more than a month.

The mother of an 11-year-old girl said she fractured her arm in a fall while on SMRT bus service 812 on Jan 4.

Madam Nurlaili, an Indonesian national who became a Singapore permanent resident in 2003, told The New Paper that on Feb 26 she was about to alight when the bus driver jammed the brakes.

She fell onto the floor and her right arm hit a handrail.

She said in Bahasa Indonesia: "I felt very little pain at first so I just got off the bus without informing the driver about what had happened. I didn't think it was anything serious because I was not bleeding.

"But the pain became worse minutes later and I couldn't even lift my arm. I had to fight back tears just to control it."

Responding to queries from TNP, SMRT said on Monday that it was investigating the matter.

Said its vice-president of corporate information and communications, Mr Patrick Nathan: "We have got in touch with Madam Nurlaili and her family... We will provide further information to her and her family as it becomes available to us.

"We are sorry that she had this unfortunate experience."

Madam Nurlaili said she had boarded the bus at around 10am that Sunday near the Safra Yishun clubhouse, about a five-minute walk from her four-room flat at Yishun Avenue 4.

She makes the journey every weekend to pick up her daughter, who goes for Quran reading classes at Chong Pang, about a 15-minute ride away.

She managed to secure a seat on the bus and got up when she was about to reach her destination near Chong Pang Community Club.

The housewife said she was standing near the exit while holding on to a handrail when the bus driver suddenly braked.

"I don't know why he did that and I almost lost my balance.

"Before I could regain my footing, he jammed the brakes a second time.

"This time, I lost my grip on the handrail and fell onto the floor. I felt my arm hitting a handrail on the way down," she said.

Some passengers came to her aid and she got off the bus to meet her daughter who was waiting at a bus stop on the opposite side of the road.

Cradling her right arm in her left hand, she felt the pain becoming worse.

She told her husband, Mr Anbar Khan Sher Khan, 59, and the three made their way to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, about a 10-minute walk away.

SERIOUS FRACTURE

Mr Khan, who is a ship traffic assistant, said: "They took an X-ray of her arm. A doctor then told us that she had suffered a serious fracture and had to go for surgery that very evening."

Madam Nurlaili, who had to be warded, was left with 15 stitches on her right forearm and two screws near her wrist to hold a metal plate in place.

She was discharged the next day.

About 30 minutes after that, she went to Yishun North Neighbourhood Police Centre to lodge a police report.

The police said they were investigating.

On Feb 20, Madam Nurlaili made an appeal for eyewitnesses of the incident on her Facebook page. Mr Khan, who earns about $1,000 a month, said that to date, he had paid about $3,000 for his wife's medical expenses.

Madam Nurlaili was relieved to have the screws removed on Feb 26.

She said: "Since the accident, I will only stand up in a bus after it has come to a complete stop. If a bus is full and there are no available seats, I will just wait for another one that is less crowded."


This article was first published on March 5, 2015.
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