KUCHING: Hope Place Kuching recently visited the rented home of an 80-year-old bedridden woman at a fourth-floor shoplot in Pending, after receiving a distress call for help.
The elderly woman, Su Soon Yek, who is bedridden, lives with her husband, Foh, 73, and their two adult sons.
She is frail and depends on tube feeding and constant care.
However, in July, she was hospitalised following a stroke and pneumonia.
According to her husband, she also developed a leg condition two and a half years ago that left her unable to walk.
Today, she cannot move much or speak and is so thin that she appears “skin and bones”.
The couple’s eldest son, aged 44, is mentally disabled, though never formally diagnosed, while their second son, 40, works at a coffeeshop and contributes what little he can to support the family.
With limited income, the burden of caring for Su falls almost entirely on her husband, who painstakingly manages all her daily needs, including tube feeding her with special milk supplements every three hours.
During the visit, Foh said that Su had pulled out her feeding tube the night before, leaving her without food or water for more than 12 hours.
He added that he had no one else to turn to for help. In response, Hope Place immediately contacted Klinik Kesihatan (KK) Tanah Puteh.
A medical assistant and nurse were dispatched to the home, where they successfully reinserted the tube and checked her condition.
The medical officer, already familiar with the family, noted that their disabled son could be aggressive at times.
The couple’s rented home is in poor condition, with a leaking roof, but they remain grateful for the RM600 monthly welfare assistance they receive.
Their spirits lifted when Hope Place provided supplies of special milk supplements, adult diapers and basic food aid, along with an angpow donated by an anonymous contributor.
For more information, Hope Place, also known as Persatuan Kebajikan Harapan Kuching, can be contacted at 082 505 987 or 013 567 2775.
Donations are welcome, and receipts will be issued upon request, and contributions may be made directly to Maybank account 5112 8900 1160, or through the organisation’s Facebook page to access its Sarawak Pay/S PAY GLOBAL QR code.
