A friend in need...

Yesterday, on my way to Tesco, I received an sms from Sha. I was shocked when I read that our colleague, Mohamad, collapsed and had a stroke the night before. He was in ICU in PPUM. I decided there and then to go and see him but I completed my errands first. I was on a mission to find a new washing machine but failed to do so as there were so many products on the market.

Anyway, I sent the kids back to Tasik Puteri and made my way to PPUM after zohor. Shafiza called to ask me to bring socks and any form of 'minyak panas' for En. Mohamad. I managed to get socks but I couldn't find any minyak panas in BTP...Isk, one shop was closed, another finished its stock and the last one didn't have any...sigh...

I've never been to PPUM before but managed to get into the area of section 16. I detoured a bit when I got into UMSC but soon managed to find PPUM safely. The only problem was parking. I only managed to find the layered parking space in the East Tower while En Mohamad was in the Main Tower. I had to walk very far to reach the Main Tower but everyone was friendly and directed me to the correct area.

He was in ICU on the fifth floor and I saw many people outside the closed section, so I asked which one was his wife? I was lucky because they were En Mohamad's relatives, coming as far as Batu Pahat. His wife told me that he was paralysed on his left side and has a blood clot in his brain but the good thing was he was responsive, so the doctors were monitoring his development. If he started going downhill, they were going to operate on him.

When I had the chance to see him, one of the nurses was doing a routine check up. He slurred, but managed to answer questions from the nurses like where and who he was and I was impressed when he could lift up his right hand and feet. We also felt encouraged when his left feet responded when poked. I saw how glad his wife is, alhamdulillah.

Seeing him lying down, helpless, I felt an acute sadness. He's a tall and thin man and very jovial. Working in the same department, we learned of the antics and quirks of your friends. Our work is stressful because it involves a 'zero-defect' clause and the only time for us to relax would be at the pantry. Sha and me and the clerks used to have fun and made a lot of noise in there. Mohamad would normally make jokes and we would laughed at his antics.

It seemed that he was diagnosed with high blood pressure sometime last year and the stroke was probably brought on by the high BP...sigh. He's about the same age as Sha and me, below forty with three young kids, still in primary school. He's one committed father, sending and fetching the kids from school everyday. He's such a family man.

Mohamad, I pray that you'll get well and get back on your feet, soon. Your young family needs you. Ya Allah, Kau pulihkanlah kawanku Mohamad seperti sediakala, sesungguhnya hanya Kau yang Berkuasa sepenuhnya...