A 25-year-old Malaysian man suddenly fell ill after just 1.5 years working in Singapore and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) recently.
Source: Give.Asia
His family is now appealing for donations to help foot his considerable medical bills.
Mr Chai Kar Jun, 25, is the youngest in a family of five siblings, his eldest sister Suxin (transliterated from Mandarin) told 8World News.
The family comes from a small village in Perak, Malaysia and are of average means. Their father is an odd-job construction worker despite being at retirement age, according to a write-up on his Give.Asia crowdfunding campaign.
Describing Mr Chai as being sensible and obedient since young, his sister said he decided to work in Singapore to support the family.
About 1.5 years ago, he found a job as a food stall assistant.
However, in March this year, Mr Chai suddenly fell very sick, Ms Chai said.
He experienced symptoms like fever, breathlessness and back pain as well as dysuria — pain and/or discomfort in the urethra during urination.
Before starting work, he underwent a physical examination. At that time, the doctor certified him as having no health conditions except for high blood pressure.
Fast forward to now and relatives who went to check on him said his condition was serious — he was semi-conscious and unable to even speak.
On 1 Apr, Mr Chai was admitted to the ICU at Changi General Hospital (CGH). Medics reportedly had to inject medicine to induce sleep in order to relieve his pain.
Source: Give.Asia
In hospital, doctors found that Mr Chai was suffering from a host of medical conditions, his sister told 8world News.
He collapsed twice as his heart stopped functioning, but doctors managed to resuscitate him.
They then diagnosed him with significant melioidosis and bacteremia — a disease caused by a bacterium found in soil and muddy water.
As his family has a history of diabetes, the bacterial infection also caused Mr Chai to suffer from diabetic ketoacidosis — when one’s body “doesn’t have enough insulin to allow blood sugar into your cells for use as energy”, defines the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Source: Give.Asia
In addition, the bacterial infection damaged Mr Chai’s kidney and lung functions, so he has to undergo dialysis every two days.
He’s currently on antibiotics along with other medications that doctors have prescribed.
After a few days, Mr Chai’s condition improved and he was transferred to a general ward.
During that period, he was apparently able to eat, sit up and talk to family members.
They thus decided to transfer him to a hospital in Johor Bahru, a move that was approved by his doctor.
However, the night after he was transferred, his condition allegedly took a turn for the worse again.
In the early hours of 15 Apr, Ms Chai and her father received a call from the hospital, and they rushed down from Ipoh.
Doctors told them that Mr Chai suddenly felt short of breath and went into cardiac arrest, his heart stopping for two minutes.
Source: Give.Asia
He was admitted to the ICU once again, his condition seemingly worse than before.
While his medical treatment in CGH has helped her brother survive, Ms Chai lamented that the bill was considerable.
As of 14 Apr, the total amount came up to more than S$40,000.
Source: Give.Asia
As Mr Chai is a work permit holder in Singapore and his condition isn’t due to a workplace injury, his medical insurance will cover only S$15,000 at the most.
Since doctors have said that Mr Chai will need to stay in hospital for some time, his bills will just keep increasing and his family fears they won’t be able to afford to pay, given their modest means.
That’s part of the reason why they decided to transfer him to JB in the first place.
The family has since started a crowdfunding campaign on Give.Asia to help with Mr Chai’s medical bills.
Since it started on 17 Apr, it has already received more than S$21, 000 in donations.
Source: Give.Asia
Ms Chai has expressed her gratitude to those who donated and said they’ll donate any excess to others in need.
Hopefully, with support from his loved ones and netizens, Mr Chai will pull through and recover very soon.
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Featured image adapted from Give.Asia.
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