Overcoming adversity through sheer grit
Amputee Hairuman was given a new lease on life with the aid of prostheses, and now has a job while helping others like him
ALL it took was a jolt to end Muhamad Hairuman Miskon’s dream of becoming an electrician.
In an interview with theSun recently, Hairuman recalled that he was working parttime in an oil palm estate near his home in Tanjung Karang, Selangor, when he was struck by a high voltage cable.
“The blow knocked me out, and I was disoriented and confused when I came to at about noon that day. It was only later that I realised I had been electrocuted,” he said.
Hairuman was rushed to a hospital in Tanjung Karang but was later transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for further treatment.
“The doctors told me both my arms would have to be amputated just below the elbow and my left leg also had to go,” he said.
Hairuman knew if he lost both his arms, he would no longer be able to pursue his ambition of becoming an electrician.
“But I also understood that I needed to heal and be independent again,” he said.
Hairuman, 31, said he was in hospital for seven months before he could start the process of rehabilitation.
Despite his disability, he was still determined to find a job, so he began calling several companies.
“I told them that I wanted to work. I wanted to be useful,” he said.
Using the phone was also a challenge, but with much practice, he was finally able to dial numbers with his elbow.
But his troubles did not end there. Eventually, his elderly sister felt he had become a burden and wanted him to leave.
“But I had only RM400 to my name at the time. There was nowhere I could go,” he recalled.
Fortunately, a woman he now refers to as “Mak” (Mum) as she is a mother figure to him, volunteered to take him for his job interviews. “She has been my tower of strength.”
Eventually, the Social Security Organisation answered his call for help. Hairuman was put under its “Return to Work” programme, but they quickly realised that to make him employable, he needed prostheses.
That led him to the coordinator for the Prosthesis and Orthotics Engineering Centre at Universiti Malaya, Dr Nasrul Anuar Abd
Razak, who found him the right prostheses.
Hairuman has completed a year’s programme in information technology and is now a real estate agent, motivational speaker, e-hailing driver and part-time prosthesis model.
He also plays the role of primary carer to two disabled sisters and a brother.
“I want to be the voice for those who are like me. I remember a parent pointing at me and telling her children that if they were naughty, they would end up like me. It made me feel so ashamed,” he said.
“I believe education can help our children learn to respect those who are different.”