By David Ee, The Straits Times, 6 Jan 2014
FOURTEEN-year-old Tan Li Xuan, who had her right hand crushed in a sugarcane juicer accident two weeks ago, received a visit from a special guest yesterday - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
PM Lee posed for a photograph with Li Xuan and her family - who live in his Ang Mo Kio GRC ward - beside her bed at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
He posted it on Facebook yesterday and added: "Glad that she is healing, and she and her family are keeping their spirits up."
Li Xuan's mother Mabel Ang, 44, said her daughter had been inspired by PM's visit to "stay strong and carry on".
He posted it on Facebook yesterday and added: "Glad that she is healing, and she and her family are keeping their spirits up."
Li Xuan lost two fingers and partially severed her thumb in the accident at her father's hawker stall in Toa Payoh. She underwent operations to save her digit by transplanting a toe onto it, and also had skin grafts on her badly lacerated arm.
PM Lee also shared with the Guangyang Secondary student a tale of inspiration from the history books - that of US civil war veteran John Wesley Powell.
Powell lost his arm in the war, but went on to pioneer an expedition in 1869 down the then uncharted Colorado River, becoming the first person to navigate through the Grand Canyon.
Said PM Lee in his post: "I wished Li Xuan a speedy recovery and a successful rehabilitation, and encouraged her to continue to pursue her dreams."
Said PM Lee in his post: "I wished Li Xuan a speedy recovery and a successful rehabilitation, and encouraged her to continue to pursue her dreams."
Li Xuan's mother Mabel Ang, 44, said her daughter had been inspired by PM's visit to "stay strong and carry on".
She added that the PM had told the family not to worry about the hospital bill. The Tan family have been concerned that their medical insurance is insufficient to cover the as yet unknown cost.
Juicer accident: Teen learning to use her left hand
By Bridget Tan and Charissa Yong, The Straits Times, 7 Jan 2014
Juicer accident: Teen learning to use her left hand
By Bridget Tan and Charissa Yong, The Straits Times, 7 Jan 2014
TAN Li Xuan, 14, may have lost some of her fingers but she has not lost her spirit.
"Every day, I tell myself I can use my left hand," she told The Straits Times from her bed in Tan Tock Seng Hospital yesterday.
Just two weeks after her right hand was crushed in a sugar cane juicer, the right-handed teenager has already learnt to use her left hand to eat and write.
During lunch yesterday, she was spooning food into her mouth with her left hand. "I need to try and use my left hand because my left hand is still normal," she said.
She has also been practising writing with her left hand because "the handwriting is very ugly".
The Secondary 2 student, who has been helping out at her father's stall in Toa Payoh since she was in Primary 5, was trying to remove a piece of jammed sugar cane from the juicer when her right hand was caught in the machine and crushed.
She lost her right middle and index fingers and half of her thumb.
Her right hand is still heavily bandaged after a 10-hour operation to attach one of her right toes to her half-severed thumb.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited the Guangyang Secondary student at the hospital on Sunday and posted a picture of him and the family on Facebook.
Li Xuan and her family live in Ang Mo Kio GRC, PM Lee's ward.
She said: "He's quite friendly. He encouraged me. He talked about the one-armed soldier who went into a cave with his mates and came out safely."
Mr Lee had told her the story of US civil war veteran John Wesley Powell who, despite having lost his arm in the war, went on to become the first person to navigate through the Grand Canyon.
Yesterday, Mr K. Pragash, 47, chairman of Teck Ghee Zone H Residents' Committee, said the grassroots community there will be helping the family financially. It is still working on the details.
It will be about nine months before Li Xuan can start physiotherapy to learn how to use her right hand again. But the teenager is already counting her blessings.
"At least I survived and have other parts of my body."
"Every day, I tell myself I can use my left hand," she told The Straits Times from her bed in Tan Tock Seng Hospital yesterday.
Just two weeks after her right hand was crushed in a sugar cane juicer, the right-handed teenager has already learnt to use her left hand to eat and write.
During lunch yesterday, she was spooning food into her mouth with her left hand. "I need to try and use my left hand because my left hand is still normal," she said.
She has also been practising writing with her left hand because "the handwriting is very ugly".
The Secondary 2 student, who has been helping out at her father's stall in Toa Payoh since she was in Primary 5, was trying to remove a piece of jammed sugar cane from the juicer when her right hand was caught in the machine and crushed.
She lost her right middle and index fingers and half of her thumb.
Her right hand is still heavily bandaged after a 10-hour operation to attach one of her right toes to her half-severed thumb.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited the Guangyang Secondary student at the hospital on Sunday and posted a picture of him and the family on Facebook.
Li Xuan and her family live in Ang Mo Kio GRC, PM Lee's ward.
She said: "He's quite friendly. He encouraged me. He talked about the one-armed soldier who went into a cave with his mates and came out safely."
Mr Lee had told her the story of US civil war veteran John Wesley Powell who, despite having lost his arm in the war, went on to become the first person to navigate through the Grand Canyon.
Yesterday, Mr K. Pragash, 47, chairman of Teck Ghee Zone H Residents' Committee, said the grassroots community there will be helping the family financially. It is still working on the details.
It will be about nine months before Li Xuan can start physiotherapy to learn how to use her right hand again. But the teenager is already counting her blessings.
"At least I survived and have other parts of my body."
True resilience. In December 2013, Yvonne's right hand was caught in a sugar cane juicer and lost two fingers and part...
Posted by The New Paper on Friday, December 18, 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment