Elderly man faints at Bukit Merah coffeeshop, bird watcher with tripod blocks ambulance

Bird watcher with tripod blocks ambulance for 20 seconds, moves after getting yelled at

Tempers flared when a bird watcher allegedly blocked an ambulance trying to respond to a medical emergency at a coffeeshop in Jalan Bukit Merah.

Mr Danny Lek, owner of the coffeeshop at Block 111, told MS News that the incident occurred at 4.40pm yesterday (7 July).

Bird watcher doesn’t give way to ambulance despite sirens

According to Mr Lek, an elderly Indian man had suddenly fainted and collapsed to the ground at the coffeeshop.

Seeing this, he and two other patrons rushed to the man’s aid and helped him back onto his chair.

Mr Lek said the man was unable to speak and had an elevated heart rate. He suspected the victim had suffered a stroke and called for an ambulance.

The ambulance later arrived at the entrance of the two-lane carpark behind Block 111, just as a delivery lorry was pulling in.

Mr Lek quickly signalled for the lorry to move to the right lane to give space, and the driver complied.

However, a bird watcher stood in the middle of the left lane with a large camera on a tripod, blocking the ambulance.

Despite the sirens, Mr Lek said the man was “behaving like he cannot see the ambulance and ignored [it]”.

Furious, the coffeeshop owner lost his cool and shouted at the man to move aside.

Photographer moves after getting yelled at

The bird watcher allegedly just stared at him “as if he owned the bloody spot” and didn’t budge.

Mr Lek raised his voice even higher, attracting the stares of everyone around. As such, the bird watcher moved aside, having blocked the ambulance for around 20 seconds.

The paramedics then rushed to attend to the fallen man, placing him on a stretcher.

Mr Lek later snapped a photo of the bird watcher, who had repositioned himself next to a parked ambulance that did not respond to the incident.

He clarified to MS News that the man had originally been standing further out on the road during the confrontation.

One person conveyed to hospital

In response to MS News’ queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that they received a call for assistance at 4:30pm that day.

SCDF conveyed one person to Singapore General Hospital.

Bird watchers condemn man’s behaviour

Following the incident, a netizen reposted Mr Lek’s Facebook post to the Bird Sightings Facebook group, urging bird watchers to give way to ambulances.

The users in the birding group universally slammed the man’s “very selfish” behaviour.

One commenter suggested that the man could have had a hearing problem, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

One comment also reassured Mr Lek that most birders are respectful, especially around emergencies.

In fact, a large crowd of birders had shown up that day, assembling with their “army” of cameras and tripods.

They were seen on the footpath beside the carpark rather than on the road.

The object of their focus was a famous parakeet family that had nested in a tree at Jalan Bukit Merah.

Also read: Parakeet parent fights off myna while feeding its chicks at Bukit Merah, netizens praise photo

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Featured image adapted from Danny Lek on Facebook.