By Lee Hui Chieh
Marianne Leong is a healthy, lively girl who will turn five in September.
One would not guess that, back in 2003, when her mother was three months pregnant with her, Marianne’s parents – both doctors – had feared for her life and health.
This was because her paediatrician mother Lim Hong Huay, now 35, had caught Sars from her father, Dr Leong Hoe Nam, at that time a registrar with the infectious disease unit at Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
Dr Leong, now 37 and an SGH consultant, recalled: “We were worried she would be stillborn or born with abnormalities, as we did not know the effects of the Sars virus on the baby.”
The couple and Dr Lim’s mother, Madam Koh Soo Gue, now 66, made the headlines when, on their way home from New York in mid-March 2003, they were taken off the flight in Frankfurt and quarantined there for 2½ weeks.
Just before the trip, Dr Leong, on secondment to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), had taken care of Singapore’s first Sars patient Esther Mok.
She had not been isolated during her first six days at TTSH because no one knew what illness she had, and Dr Leong checked on her twice a day at the time.
After two weeks, he came down with fever and body aches. The fever subsided in two days, so he left for a medical conference in New York with his wife and mother-in-law.
The body aches returned, with severe chills, while he was in New York. Shortly after, Madam Koh developed a cough and after they were quarantined, Dr Lim started running a fever.
But Dr Leong was the most seriously ill. He recalled waking late one night, gasping for breath, even with an oxygen mask on: “I was taking deep breaths, and I could feel the air going in and out, but I couldn’t breathe. I was terrified.”
He pulled through, as did his wife and mother-in-law.
The couple say their illness has made them feel more for their patients, and given them a greater appreciation for life and loved ones.
Dr Lim said: “I used to be a workaholic, but I realized, when you die, no matter how many prizes you get for your work, people will forget. It’s what you have done for family and friends that will last.”
The episode has also made Dr Leong more careful with patients. He washes his hands religiously and dons a face mask when seeing patients with coughs and runny noses.
He said: “I have young daughters at home now, and I don’t want to fall sick and pass any bug to them.”
The couple’s second child, Vivianne, was born last month.
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