Student traumatised by crash at Pahang marathon
KUANTAN: The only thing that marathon runner Chua Yennie could remember was waking up at the emergency room after a car ploughed into her during the Run Out Pahang Marathon 2018 here.
“All I could remember was getting hit by the car, then everything went blank and somehow I woke up in the emergency room. I was so scared and shocked because I couldn’t hear anything in my left ear.”
“I am really shocked by this, and right now I don’t intend to take part in such events again in the near future,” said the traumatised 21yearold accounting student of Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah.
Chua was about to reach the end of the 21km event when the accident happened.
“It’s very disappointing because I was so happy that I was going to finish my first 21km event. But to have the satisfaction of finishing it just taken away like that, it’s even more painful.”
Chua’s mother Ong Lee Pheng, 48, said that besides bleeding in the left ear, her daughter suffered injuries to her left hip and a fracture on the left side of her neck.
Ong said although her daughter does not require any surgery, she is afraid she may suffer longterm side effects.
“She was still bleeding a bit from her left ear on Monday and now, she can’t hear from it, and the doctor said we have to wait to see if the hearing loss is temporary or permanent.”
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai’s special assistant Datuk Andrew Wong, who visited Chua, said organisers of such events must emphasise on the safety of participants before holding them.
On Sunday, four runners were sent to a hospital after a car driven by a volunteer ploughed into them.
Kuantan police chief Asst Comm Mohd Noor Yusof Ali said earlier that the 28yearold driver lost control of her car while trying to help several participants who were run ning outside the designated area near Masjid AlImam AshShafie in the 8.25am incident.
The other three injured runners, Ahmad Fakhri Sulaiman, 31, Nurulhuda Ahmad Razali, 32, and Haslinda Othman, 41, are in stable condition.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said Malaysia Athletics Federation (MAF) and all athlete bodies should review the present safety standards and procedures and recognise the weaknesses.
“It is incumbent upon the agencies involved to identify the hazards and risks and take safety measures,” he said in a statement.