From foe to full-time caregiver

Ms Lim Joo Teng vividly recalls the day her life took a dramatic turn. Two decades ago, her father, with whom she had been living with since her parents’ divorce, received a call from their estranged mother notifying them that her brother, Joo Phiau, was in critical condition in the hospital after a tragic car crash.

What ensued were numerous exhausting days and tearful, sleepless nights. “I was just 18, and my brother was 24 when he had that car accident. We had been separated since our parents’ divorce when we were very young. I stayed with our father, and he, with our mother, but we reunited after his car accident,” recalled Ms Lim.

“In the past, life was carefree, and I had no concerns. Everything changed after my brother’s accident. My father, who had been working as a cook, quit his job. The three of us spent months in and out of the hospital while my brother remained in critical condition. That was the most challenging time of my life.”

The incident caused Joo Phiau to suffer a severe brain injury, leaving him paralysed from the neck down. As Joo Phiau’s medical bills snowballed, 18-year-old Ms Lim gave up her plans for higher education to work and provide for her family. Their stepfather, Mr Kua Sim Choon, also quit his job to become Joo Phiau’s full-time caregiver.

“Before my stepson’s accident, he used to give me a hard time because he disapproved of my relationship with his mother (now my wife). After the accident, it hurt to see my wife crying every day. I told her not to be that way and that I would help take care of him,” recounted Mr Kua. “Who would have thought that I would end up being his caregiver for the past 20 years? “