October 31, 2023, 11:22 AM
A group of Temasek Polytechnic students were heading to dinner when a chain collision took place right beside their bus.
Despite their shock, the four friends acted quickly, getting off the bus to rescue a female victim, who was injured in the accident.
The woman turned out to be a senior staff member from their school.
Thanks to their efforts, she was brought to safety and was subsequently conveyed to a hospital.
The four unlikely heroes, Adli Yazlani Bin Zainal, Marco Sim, Norvin Tan and Lycia Goh, who are all 18 years old, were presented with Certificates of Commendation by the school on Oct. 26, to recognise their act of kindness.
The accident
Adli, Sim, Tan and Goh are students at the School of Informatics and IT in Temasek Polytechnic, and are also friends.
From left: Goh, Sim, Adli and Tan are friends studying at Temasek Polytechnic. Image courtesy of Temasek Polytechnic.
They shared with Mothership that on the evening of the accident, Oct. 23, they were doing some revision after school together.
Once they were done, they left Temasek Polytechnic and hopped on a bus to go for dinner together.
At about 7:10pm, however, Adli and his friends heard a loud crash right beside their bus.
There was a four-car collision near to Temasek Polytechnic's main gate on Oct. 23 evening. Image courtesy of Temasek Polytechnic.
Turning around, they saw that an accident had taken place near the polytechnic's main gate, resulting in a chain collision involving four cars.
Initially, they were in a state of shock, the students admitted.
None of them had seen an actual traffic accident take place in person before.
Got off the bus to help
However, this did not deter them from taking action.
"We were just looking at each other and we all just decided to help out since that's the right thing to do," they shared.
At the bus's next stop, the east gate of Temasek Polytechnic, they alighted from the bus and rushed over to the site of the accident to help.
Evacuated a woman from car leaking fuel
Adli acted quickly when he realised one of the affected cars had fuel leaking out from it.
Gail Goodenough, a TP staff, said that she was in a stationary Grab that had been struck from behind when the TP students found her. Image from Temasek Polytechnic.
He rushed over to knock on its window and found a woman inside, who was conscious but stunned from the collision.
Adli then explained the situation to her and urged her to evacuate from the vehicle immediately.
He helped her to get out of the car, and retrieved her shoes from the front of the vehicle, where they had been flung from the impact of the crash.
Carried her to safety and called ambulance
Sim, Tan and Goh then helped to carry the woman to the nearby grass verge, while Adli signalled to passing vehicles to stay clear.
Sim also called the ambulance.
The four students talked to the stunned victim for some time, checking on her condition and helping to calm her down.
They noted that four other drivers and two passengers were affected by the accident.
Additionally, the last car appeared to have suffered the most damage from the collision, but the driver was fine.
Victim, a TP staff, suffered minor injuries
Unbeknownst to them, the woman who was rescued by the students happened to be Assistant Director for Academic & Student Development at Temasek Polytechnic, Gail Goodenough.
Goodenough has since been discharged from the hospital with minor injuries.
According to her, the accident took place when her Grab ride, which had stopped at a traffic light along Tampines Avenue 1, was rammed by a speeding car.
The impact caused her vehicle to hit the two cars in front of her, resulting in a four-car chain collision.
Goodenough said she suffered minor injuries to her tailbone and right lung area from the accident, as well as seatbelt injuries like scars and bruises.
After being discharged from hospital, she attended the award ceremony and expressed her gratitude for the students' timely assistance.
"It is very rare to find a group of teenagers who would go out of their way to help. I am deeply grateful for their assistance," she said.
From left: Norvin Tan, Lycia Goh, Marco Sim and Adli Yazlani Bin Zainal with Gail Goodenough, at the presentation of their Certificates of Commendation. Image courtesy of Temasek Polytechnic.
Would have helped even if it's not TP staff: Students
While it was a nice surprise to help someone from their school, the four friends pointed out that it wasn't something they had considered.
"To be honest, it didn't matter if she was a TP staff or student. When we stepped in to help, it was really because we wanted to," they added.
In an earlier message, they also wished Goodenough a swift recovery and hoped to see her back in school soon.
Top image from Temasek Polytechnic.
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