Four days after colliding into an e-scooter in Bedok North, an elderly woman who was riding a bicycle has died from her injuries sustained in the accident.

65-year-old Ong Bee Eng was initially reported to be in critical condition after the accident, which happened on Sep. 21, 2019.

Succumbed to serious injuries

Ong had been in a coma and was on life support at Changi General Hospital's Surgical Intensive Care Unit.

Apart from sustaining severe brain injuries, she also suffered multiple fractures.

Ong's family was reportedly informed to prepare for the worst on Sep. 23, with the doctor also advised them to pull the plug.

But according to previous reporting from Shin Min Daily News, her family decided to allow her to "pass naturally", not being able to bear making a decision to take her off life support.

The police reportedly confirmed on Wednesday, Sep. 25, though, that Ong has died.

Well-loved by family and friends

Ong's niece, Chinfung Ko, wrote an emotional post on Facebook describing the immense sadness felt by her family.

She wrote that the house would always be filled with Ong's "loud and melodious voice" when she was around, adding that Ong would have late night chats with Ko's mother, Ong's sister, on the phone every day.

As such, Ko says Ong's passing has hit her mother and the rest of their family very hard.

"No one will ever call mama at 10pm to chit chat every day anymore. Papa used to jokingly laugh at mama, asking why does my dayi (Mandarin for Ko's first aunt, Ong) have to call her every single day. My dayi once told me it is because if she doesn't hear my mum's voice she wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Mama is trying very hard to cope with this accident."

Ko also described Ong to be a caring and generous person.

She said that Ong would bake pineapple tarts for her friends and relatives every Chinese New Year.

As such, she was, according to Ko, also a well-loved figure in the neighbourhood.

Ko also noted that Ong had been cycling for more than 30 years and had never met with any accident before.

The family, she writes, is still finding it hard to accept her death.

At the end of the post, Ko also appealed to members of the public to come forward if they had witnessed the collision.

"As I write this post, I’m hoping that any witnesses who saw the accident would reach out to me or my cousin because there will not be a day that we won’t stop thinking about what happened to dayi. Was it the PMD rider’s fault? Was it the 50km/h? Was it because he modified his PMD vehicle? Was it because he ferried someone else on his PMD vehicle? Were the actions of a 20-year-old PMD rider worth my dayi’s injuries? I sincerely hope that he is recovering well from his fractured hand, while we, the family members of Ong Bee Eng, are still trying to accept the fact that his actions put her in a coma, and we are praying hard for a miracle to happen."

Investigations are ongoing and the 20-year-old e-scooter rider has been arrested for the alleged rash act.

Here's her full post:

Here's what she wrote if you cannot see the post:

On 21st September 2019, I left the hospital at 9:30pm after visiting my critically-ill grandma. I then made my way to my youngest aunt's house, to look for my niece and nephew and hoping my (eldest aunt) dayi who would always cycle to my youngest aunt’s house to find us or pass my mama some grocceries that she had bought for us — but that day didn’t come... because she didn't make it back to find us.

The next time I finally saw her was at Changi General Hospital, where she laid in the ICU ward covered in bruises, and blood was flowing excessively out of her ears. The doctors told our family that she could not hear nor see us, and that we have to be prepared for the worse. The injuries that dayi sustained left her brain squashed and her face covered with cuts and bruises — I could no longer recognise her as she laid still on the hospital bed. I will never forget the moment I saw her lying motionlessly in the CGH A&E ward. My fingers turned stiff, and I cried so hard that I couldn't speak. Every single time my family visited the ICU ward, we would cry and hope for a miracle to happen.

As a family, we had to make a life and death decision for dayi and we decided not to pull the plug on her because we want to send her off naturally. We know that her time with us on this world may be limited, but we treasure every second that we have left with her.

Ong Bee Eng may be a name that is unfamiliar to the majority of Singapore, but they mean a lot to the family. My childhood was always filled with memories of her, but now we can no longer gather at her house without her anymore. Her house will no longer be filled with her loud and melodious voice, we can no longer hear her parking her bicycle outside the house, and most importantly she can't hear us call her 大姨 dayi anymore.

No one will ever call mama at 10pm to chit chat everyday anymore. Papa used to jokingly laugh at mama, asking why does my dayi have to call her every single day. My dayi once told me it is because if she doesn't hear my mum's voice she wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Mama is trying very hard to cope with this accident. We still have grandma waiting for us to visit her again as a whole family, but I guess it will never happen anymore.

Dayi is one of the most generous person, even though she is not rich. Every Chinese New Year she will spend a few days making her signature pineapple tarts for her friends and relatives to gift it to them and also preparing steamboat for us. She has always been a very loving aunt to all of us and even to my cousin kids. When I was young, I grew up with a few of my cousins and dayi will always pamper us with bicycle rides and McDonald's Happy Meal. She would always ask us, "你们要吃汉堡包吗? 大姨去买."( you want to eat burger ? Aunt go buy for you) Dayi also loved to offer people green tea whenever we go her house. 开冰箱就有绿茶但是现在没有了(if you were to open the fridge there is always green tea but now no one will stock up green tea for us anymore)

All the young kids have been calling nai nai 奶奶 and Bee Eng mama to wake up to play with them. Dayi is not just well loved by us, many people who stay in Bedok love her too because of all the good things she brought to the neighborhood.

As I write this post, I’m hoping that any witnesses who saw the accident would reach out to me or my cousin because there will not be a day that we won’t stop thinking about what happened to dayi. Was it the PMD rider’s fault? Was it the 50km/h? Was it because he modified his PMD vehicle? Was it because he ferried someone else on his PMD vehicle? Were the actions of a 20-year-old PMD rider worth my da yi’s injuries? I sincerely hope that he is recovering well from his fractured hand, while we, the family members of Ong Bee Eng, are still trying to accept the fact that his actions put her in a coma, and we are praying hard for a miracle to happen.

Ah khai, ah mei, ah wei, ah xin, ah bi, ah zhi, ah pang jingfang, ah ken miss you dayi.

Top photo collage from ChinFung Ko's Facebook and Shin Min Daily News