Mother regrets not locking Ang Mo Kio flat kitchen window after girl, 6, fell to death

Condolences to the family.

Zhangxin Zheng | June 07, 2019, 11:42 AM

A six-year-old girl died after falling from her family's 11th floor Ang Mo Kio HDB flat kitchen window.

Following the accident, some commenters were quick to lambaste the girl's parents for their negligence.

There were also those who are more compassionate towards the grieving family.

Mother regrets not calling home and locking the window

According to a follow-up report by Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao, the mother recounted what happened that led to the tragedy and reprimanded herself for not locking the window before leaving the house.

The 40-year-old mother, who is currently pursuing a nursing diploma at Nanyang Polytechnic, said she would usually send her daughter to the childcare centre.

However, the childcare centre only operated half a day on June 4, the eve of Hari Raya Puasa public holiday.

Her husband went to work as usual while their son went to a student care centre after school that day.

Hence, she had to leave her daughter alone at home that afternoon.

After she ended class at around 5pm, she hurried home as she was worried about her daughter being left alone.

When she reached home, she found the kitchen window opened and saw her daughter lying motionlessly on the ground level when she looked down.

The mother of the girl rushed down and cried over her daughter's body.

She recounted to the reporter:

"I touched her small hand and back, I could still feel her warmth, I kept asking the paramedics why didn't they send her to the hospital immediately, they told me her heart had stopped beating..."

Upon hearing that her daughter could not be resuscitated, she broke down and could not stop crying.

The father also rushed to the scene after receiving the bad news.

The mother was extremely remorseful for not locking the window and not calling back home right after class to comfort her daughter, Lianhe Wanbao reported.

Took up nursing course for her children

As the family is not financially well-to-do, the mother quit her job and took up a nursing course in hopes of finding a better job to support the family.

The mother shared that she was working as a waitress at a restaurant previously which only earned a meagre income.

She said she could not satisfy what her children wanted previously and could only bring them to free playing areas on weekends.

This prompted her to pursue a three-year nursing diploma in April this year, to get a higher-paying job to provide a better life for her children.

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