by Daisy CL Mandap
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| Lyn's thick long hair had to be shaved so doctors could open her skull and operate |
She may have spent Christmas and New Year in hospital
because of the horrific head injury she sustained after being hit by a KMB bus
in Central on Dec 5, but Lyn B. is still glad to be alive.
After having part of her skull removed to release a
blood clot in her brain and spending more than a month at the Maclehose Medical
Rehabilitation Centre in Pokfulam, Lyn is set to go back to her employer’s
house in Hang Hau tomorrow, Jan. 14.
Lyn, 33, knows she is lucky twice over. She not only
survived her injuries despite being listed as critical initially and getting
intubated, she also got to keep her job. Her employer of one year has been
in touch with her on a regular basis and told her not to worry about the
hospital bills.
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She also had friends and family members who worried
over her, and even told her to just go home to recover if she wanted to.
But the incident also gave her time to reflect on her
mistakes that led to her being hit by the bus at high speed at about midnight
on that Sunday.
Lyn admits she was drunk and did not use the pedestrian crossing when she sprinted from the Li Yuen alleys and dashed across Des Voeux Road Central to get to the other side.
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She, along with a Filipino domestic worker who was
apparently only slightly hurt, were hit by a speeding west-bound KMB bus no 111
at about 11:57pm that day. The impact was such the left windshield of the vehicle was
shattered and it had to be towed away.
“Lesson learned
po,” Lyn told The SUN over the phone. “Kasalanan
ko naman talaga yun.” (I’ve learned by lesson. I admit it was my fault).
Police said then that the 58-year-old bus driver was held for questioning but was not arrested.
Lyn said she had been drinking with friends and rushed
to catch the MTR home at about midnight. She was the first to leave the
gathering and was alone when she crossed the street. She didn’t know the
Filipino man who was struck by the bus at the same time.
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A similar incident happened just two Sundays earlier,
when another Filipino man described by the police as drunk, was hit at exactly
the same spot. Judging from videos taken by bystanders he was not as seriously
hurt as Lyn and the other man involved in the same bus crash.
Lyn was rushed to Queen Mary Hospital unconscious and
had to be operated on to release the pressure on a burst artery in her brain.
A picture taken shortly after the surgery showed a big
part of her skull had been sliced open to stop the bleeding inside. She was
told she would have to go back to the hospital for another surgery so that part
her artery that had been clipped out could be put back once it has healed.
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| Lyn is grateful to friends and relatives who comforted her while she was in hospital |
Lyn, a single mother of two girls, was initially
worried about not getting her full pay while in hospital. But help could be
coming her way.
She has been advised to apply for financial help
through a little-known program by the Social Welfare Department called the
Traffic Accident Victims Assistance scheme, which provides compensation to
victims of vehicular accidents who are in Hong Kong legally.
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The fund pays all victims, regardless of whether they
were partly to blame for the accident, for as long as they were injured and had
to hospitalized for at least three days. The family of those who died from such
accidents could also seek help.
The amount would depend on the injuries sustained, the
victim’s income and financial impact on their dependents.
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Apart from this possible payout, Lyn said her employer
had told her about making a claim against the FDH insurance taken out in her
name.
For now, however, Lyn is more than happy enough to have come out of the incident alive and to be able to continue working in Hong Kong to provide for her daughters’ needs.
