Pedestrian, 53, dies 5 days after getting hit by cyclist along Sims Avenue

Following the fatal collision between a 65-year-old cyclist and a personal mobility device (PMD) rider, yet another pedestrian has died after a cyclist knocked him over.

Chew Fook Yew, 53, had been crossing the junction between Sims Avenue and Geylang Lorong 33 on Tuesday (Oct 1) evening, when a cyclist crashed into him.

The man was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where he was found to be suffering from cerebral haemorrhage due to a crack in his skull. He underwent emergency surgery which lasted over three hours, but doctors were unable to save him.

Chew was placed on life support for five days before he succumbed to his injuries on Sunday (Oct 6) night.

In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, the deceased's sister, Zhao, recounted the scene of the accident.

The 60-year-old woman was making her way to her mother's place for dinner that day when she saw an ambulance at the junction and a man in an orange shirt lying on the road.

"My brother had a similar orange shirt, that wouldn't be him, right? I called home to check, and my heart sank when I was told that he wasn't home."

Her fears were realised when she saw that the victim was indeed her younger brother. While he had no visible injuries, his eyes were wide open and his mouth was trembling nonstop, she said.

"I kept calling his name but he had no response at all."

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According to witnesses, the cyclist is a Caucasian man. He had rushed to help the victim up and yelled for someone to call for an ambulance. He only left after paramedics arrived on the scene, and also left his particulars behind.

Witnesses told Zhao that the cyclist's speed had been about 20 kilometres per hour.

The police arrested the 41-year-old cyclist on the charge of causing serious injury due to negligence.

Chew, who was the youngest of five siblings, had been the main caretaker of their 88-year-old mother. They are now taking turns to look after their grieving mother.

Zhao said: "Mother loved him the best. They used to spend day and night together and were really close. She kept crying for him to wake up when she saw him, it really made everyone feel terrible."

His funeral will be held at Mandai Crematorium on Wednesday morning.

Investigations are still ongoing.

Chew's death came just a day before Janil Puthucheary, the Senior Minister of State of Transport, suggested in parliament that PMDs could be banned if user behaviours do not improve.

rainercheung@asiaone.com