03 Jan 2011
WHEN she heard the terrible news that her husband had been struck by lightning, Mrs Chen knew she had to provide him with whatever help he needed.
“I spent the whole night reading up on lightning strike victims, what they go through, and how they feel, so I can take care of him,” said the 50-year-old, who did not want to give her full name.
Her husband, Mr Chen Yuk Fu, 62, regained consciousness yesterday – after he was struck while playing golf last Saturday afternoon.
Mrs Chen has visited him in the intensive care unit of Changi General Hospital, where he is in a stable condition. She said she was relieved he could recognise her.
She told The Straits Times how she cried for hours until she lost her voice, after a friend told her about the accident at Laguna National Golf and Country Club in Changi.
Mr Chen, a technology firm director, suffered burns to his head, neck and hand.
When asked whether he will be allowed to continue playing golf, his hobby of more than 20 years, his wife said: “He’s so passionate about golf, what to do?”
Mr Chen told his wife he could not remember anything about the accident. But golfers there at the time said he was playing from a very high point.
Ms Irene Wong, 58, who plays at the club three times a month, said staff told her the golf club Mr Chen was holding had split almost in two.
She said she had taken shelter in her buggy after she heard an extraordinarily loud clap of thunder just before the lightning struck.
Dr Fatimah Lateef, an emergency medicine specialist at Singapore General Hospital, said she has seen about 15 cases of people hit by lightning in 20 years. Dr Lateef, who was not involved in treating Mr Chen, added that most victims suffer minor burns, but some die on the spot.
“It depends where the current travels in the body. For example, if it enters the right hand and crosses the heart to the left arm, it is possible that it will affect the heart, and might be more lethal.”
She added that the public should avoid standing under trees and being in open spaces when there is lightning.
A spokesman for the club said it has been in touch with the family, but declined to comment on any possible compensation.
In July, six full-time national servicemen under a shelter were injured when a bolt of lightning hit a hill they were on during a training exercise.
Click here for jpeg format
Dept of Emergency Medicine
« Back to previous
page
back to top