Woman Fell into Canal ‘Coz She Thought Someone Was Chasing Her

Last Updated on 2021-03-16 , 9:11 pm

Especially in a relatively safe country like Singapore, if someone was chasing after me, I’d be terrified and would probably fall while trying to get away.

Sure, if it’s just a small fall, you might have some injuries here and there. But falling into a canal? That has really got to hurt.

On Wednesday (10 Mar), a woman fell into a large canal in Bukit Panjang and was found lying face down. According to the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) Facebook post, they received a call for assistance at 5:50pm.

The incident happened near Block 510 Jelapang Road.

The firefighters from Bukit Timah Fire Station deployed a ladder to climb into the large canal. The firefighters and rescuers from the elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) then proceeded to carefully secure the woman onto a stretcher and rescued her safely out of the canal with a hoisting system.

SCDF’s Emergency Medical Services had assessed that the woman had sustained injuries to her head, hips and legs.

She was later taken to the National University Hospital.

Read SCDF’s full post here.

Attributed to her Mental Health

As reported by The New Paper, the woman was the wife of 57-year-old Chen Qi Zan, a rag and bone man.

Mr Chen said, “The doctor later told me that my wife thought someone was chasing her. When she turned to run away, she fell into the canal.”

He noted she had been feeling unwell and attributed it to her mental health.

Mr Chen had last spoken to his wife, Madam Hu, on that morning when he met her at the void deck and told her to eat the breakfast he had prepared. He was not aware of her whereabouts till 7:00pm that evening when he was alerted to what had happened.

The incident left Madam Hu with a fractured leg and injuries to her face—a 4cm-long cut from her eyebrows to her forehead.

Initially, when she was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the doctors were uncertain whether she required brain surgery. Fortunately, her condition stabilised and she was transferred to the general ward the next day.

She had since received surgery for her injuries. We hope that Madame Hu recovers well.

Cat Rescued From Canal

In other more heartwarming news, another incident two years ago saw strangers banding together to pull out a drenched cat from another large canal.

Twitter user @navjeet_k documented in a tweet how a bunch of strangers worked together to save a stray cat.

 

They soon came across a group of three or four passers-by gathered along the side of the canal and another girl who was in the canal.

Most unfortunately, rainy weather has been the norm for the last few days.

Upon closer inspection, the girl was actually trying to rescue a cat stuck down in the canal.

A GrabFood rider had also climbed in to help her out.

Too bad the cat ran away when the strangers tried to build a shelter for it.

Oh well!

Featured Image: Facebook (Singapore Civil Defence Force)