MMEA personnel to undergo eye operation
KOTA KINABALU: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Maritime Petty Officer Zainal Abad Komel was expected to undergo an eye operation at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 on Wednesday (April 24).
The 45-year-old officer was blinded when a bullet hit a nerve on his left eye following a shooting incident in the Kunak waters on April 8.
MMEA Assistant Director of Enforcement and Exercise, Maritime Commander Siti Khairunnisak Abd Aziz said the surgery would be carried out to ensure whether the cornea of the patient’s eye can function or not.
“Examination will be done by a QEH’s ophthalmologist to ensure the patient has enough rest before undergoing the surgery,” she said during a visit to Zainal Abad at QEH recently.
Also present were MMEA Deputy Director of Management Siti Norhaini Osli, KM Banggi Commanding Officer Maritime Commander Nik Mohd Rizam Nik Mohd Fauzi and KM Memmon Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander Muhamad Soleh Halim.
Meanwhile, Siti Norhaini informed that MMEA will take care of the welfare of Zainal Abad and family members who arrived in Kota Kinabalu.
Zainal and a colleague who were on the Ops Pagar Laut Khas operation, along with four others, were shot and wounded after approaching a boat to conduct an inspection, when four shots were fired from the boat.
In the 8.40am incident, at 0.2 nautical mile northeast of Kampung Pangi in Kunak, Zainal was injured in the left eye while Maritime Leading Rate Prayrie De Cuella Jimin, 35, was injured in both hands.