Grateful for a new life

Story and photo by CHRISTINA TAN

SEVEN years ago, college student Thee Wan Chiee was hit by a motorbike when she was on her way home after supper with friends.

She suffered a broken skull and lost her vision as well as her sense of smell permanently.

After the accident which occurred at Jalan Banting-Klang on May 14, 2000, Thee, then 19, was unable to see and was forced to quit her studies at a college in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan.

Still thankful: Thee working at a computer with software specially designed for the blind.

“I couldn’t believe this had happened to me I was extremely frightened and confused to see only darkness when I opened my eyes,” said Thee, who is 26 now.

The first year after the accident was a tumultuous year for her.

She had to fight for her life following major surgery to repair her broken skull. She was in a coma for five days and hospitalised for a month.

She was also fighting with herself for a new lease of life.

“I can’t remember much about what happened that night except that there was lots of blood,”. Thee said, adding that she had very few memories of the whole episode.

“I took me some time to recognise my parents and two younger sisters, and to realise what had actually happened to me,” she said when met the Beautiful Gate centre for the disabled.

During the first month of her recovery, Thee said, she not only tried very hard to recall her memories, but also learnt to walk, like a toddler.

“It was several months before I could walk again, and a year before I was able to face the reality,” she said, adding that she was initially angry with God for what had happened to her and confined herself to her own room.

Thee said it was her mother’s grief and tears for her almost every night since the accident that pushed her to seek a new life.

“She has suffered so much for me and the only way to cheer her up – and those who care for me – is for me to be happy,” she said.

She walked out of her room and took up a one-year “beginner's course” at the School for the Blind in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, to learn some basic skills for daily living.

Although the tragedy had changed her life completely, Thee said, she had more friends than ever now.

Her old friends, ex-school mates and relatives, with whom she had lost contact for a long time, had called her and visited her in hospital and at home after reading about the accident in the newspapers.

Her relationship with her family had also become closer than before, she said, adding that her life was more complete and more independent now.

“So I have not lost much, actually,” she quipped.

In January, Thee started work as an accounts clerk at the Beautiful Gate disabled centre in Port Klang. She is grateful for the job opportunity and trust shown in her.

Lately, Thee said, she could see some colours. “This is probably due to the hope and happiness in me,” she said, adding that she had never given up hope that she would be able to see again.

“I’m waiting for an opportunity to return to college to further my studies and become a business-woman someday,” she added.

She hopes all motorists would be more careful and considerate because their actions could affect not only their own lives but also those of others.

“Not every one is as lucky as I am to be given a second chance to live,” she said.

Source : http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2007/6/5/central/17859583&sec=central