It was a sad day today. There is no cause for further celebration. Not after what happened yesterday.I heard over the tv news last night that a tree killed a 32 yo man along Yio Chu Kang Road in the afternoon. He was driving his MPV in the heavy rain when the entire tree collapsed onto his car and him.
The last I knew of fatal cases in the past few years involved a lady who was killed by a tree after a rain in Bukit Batok Park and a vietnamese guy who was killed by a fallen tree branch in the central nature reserve.
And now this. My heart grew heavier as I read more details from the papers. He suffered severe spinal injuries and was pronounced dead at 2:50 pm yesterday. There was a pram and a toddler seat that SCDF officers removed from the wrecked car. Apparently he married 4 years ago and had a 3 year old child.
How can anyone even begin to imagine how the last moments of his life was for him as he took his last breath? What was on his mind and what were his regrets? And how can anyone imagine the loss felt by the young family that built a life with him? How can the child comprehend the loss of his/her father at this age and for the rest of his/her life? Surely he/she would be scarred by the trauma for life?
A microburst, sudden gust of wind at high speed, descended and swept through the area and brought the rain-soaked and heavily loaded tree down with it. This explanation would never be able to allay the loss of a young man. Let us take a moment of silence to mourn the passing of a man, whose life was forcefully taken away from him and his family in that split second. After reading the report, I may not know him but I do feel the pain and feel shrouded by a sense of unnecessary loss.
