'Our family will not forget it': Son of driver injured in TPE crash thanks motorcyclists who stopped to help

After his father was injured in a crash along the Tampines Expressway (TPE) on May 3, a man took to Facebook to thank the strangers who stopped to help and ensured that he received medical attention.

Lee Chun Nguan, 71, was involved in a traffic accident along the TPE towards Seletar Expressway (SLE) when another vehicle crashed into the van he was driving.

Expressing his gratitude in that Facebook post on Wednesday (May 13), Johnathan Lee wrote: "He was hurt. He couldn’t reach for his phone to call for help. He couldn’t tell anyone where he was, or that his children needed to know." 

A group of motorcyclists then pulled over and called an ambulance. One rider, Chris, called Lee's sister, who then contacted Lee. 

Lee, who was in Malaysia at the time then subsequently made his way to the hospital his dad was in, adding that Chris' help in speaking to his father and taking photos of the incident reassured him that his dad, while injured, was "being looked after". 

However, other than Chris, he doesn't know the names of the other motorcyclists and "never got to thank them properly". 

"To the riders who stopped: Thank you. You didn’t have to. You had every reason to keep going. You stopped anyway. Our family will not forget it," he wrote. 

In response to AsiaOne's queries, the 41-year-old lawyer said that he had thanked Chris via WhatsApp on May 3 and again a few days later when he collected his father's van.

"It was only when I saw the van that I realised how serious the accident was," Jonathan added.

The father, who is still warded at Changi General Hospital, sustained fractures among other injuries and is undergoing physiotherapy daily to help him walk unaided again.

Jonathan added that his father has been on painkillers and has trouble sleeping on some nights, but is set to be discharged on May 25.

"Our family is coping well," the son said. "We are not complaining. The fact that we get to do all this is something we are deeply grateful for, because the alternative could have been much worse."

Police investigations ongoing 

The accident occurred at about 7.35am along TPE towards SLE, in the vicinity of the Sengkang East Road/Punggol Way exit.

Photos of the incident showed the van stopped on the rightmost lane with its front mangled after crashing through shrubs planted on the central divider. 

An eyewitness said in a motoring chat group that the accident involved a Mercedes car which ended up on the leftmost lane. 

The police told AsiaOne earlier that both the elderly driver and 25-year-old male car driver were taken conscious to the hospital, adding that the younger driver is assisting with ongoing police investigations.

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esther.lam@asiaone.com