01 Sep 2010
When they were training to be nurses, no one told National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) Nurse Clinician Ngu Nang Hu and Singapore General Hospital (SGH) Acting Nurse Clinician Suraini Muhamed Ishak they would one day be faced with an unusual task – to rescue a week-old Dutch baby from a hotel.
Baby Kyra Voss’ parents were in NHCS, where doctors were racing against the clock to save her mother following a massive heart attack. Worried about her next feed, her father, Mr Marc Voss, found his way to the nursery and asked for milk.
Ms Suraini, the night nurse in charge of SGH’s Block 5, which includes the nursery, prepared the milk but couldn’t find Mr Voss, who had returned to NHCS to be with his wife, Angelique, in the operating theatre. Ms Suraini knew the wife was at NHCS, so she rang Ms Ngu, the night nurse manager on duty there.
“My first instinct was that we needed to help both the mother and baby. I was worried for the patient because she was in a critical condition. But the poor baby was unfed and left alone in the room,” said Ms Suraini.
Without family or friends in Singapore, Mr Voss had no one to turn to for help. He was uneasy about leaving Kyra alone in the hotel, but knew he had to remain in the hospital, where he was needed to make crucial decisions about his wife’s treatment. Understanding his dilemma, Ms Ngu decided to take charge of the baby’s care.
As Ms Ngu was on hospital duty, she sought the help of hotel staff. However, the duty manager, unaware of the lone baby in the room, was initially hesitant to take the responsibility of removing her from the room.
“At first, the hotel manager was reluctant to bring the baby to us. I offered to pay for the cab fare, but he was still unsure. I even thought of calling my mother to pick the baby up from the hotel and look after her at home,” said Ms Ngu.
“Thankfully, I managed to persuade him, and he brought the baby the short distance from the hotel to SGH Campus.”
Ms Suraini faced a different challenge.
“To have a baby admitted to hospital, there usually has to be a medical reason. I had to convince a doctor to admit the baby on compassionate grounds,” she said.
Mother and child stayed in hospital for six-and-a-half weeks and have since returned to the Netherlands. The family, who lived in Vietnam for the past nine years, was in Singapore for Angelique to deliver Kyra, their third child.
Recalling that fateful night, Mr Voss said: “Ms Ngu is like a mother figure.
When the doctors told me that Angelique had a 50-50 chance, I was lost. When she found out about Kyra, she took charge and I felt better. I’m thankful to her and all members of the team for their help that night.”
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