Boy, 12, passes PSLE after heart attack in P4 sent him to ICU & left him in wheelchair

While many would see the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) as an academic challenge, for Ridhwan Fadli — who recently got back his PSLE results — it was life and death.

When the North View Primary School student was in Primary 4, he came down with a flu, which worsened into an influenza infection that caused him to experience seizures and a heart attack, said his parents, Mohammad Fadli and Siti Rizana.

He subsequently spent 14 days fighting for his life in the intensive care unit (ICU) of KK Women's and Children's Hospital.

Had a heart attack in P4, admitted to ICU

Ridhwan's parents told Mothership that their son experienced seizures in August 2022 following a fever.

Ridhwan was conscious while his father accompanied him to the hospital, but later collapsed en route to the ICU for monitoring.

He then had cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) performed on him for about 30 to 40 minutes.

"When they didn't manage to revive him in the first five minutes of CPR, I said in my heart, 'Is he gone for good, or is he going to come back?'," Ridhwan's father recalled.

At that point, he was struggling to find the words to tell his wife, as Ridhwan was their only child.

Thankfully, a weak pulse was detected.

But that was also the start of the fight.

Ridhwan would spend the next 14 days on life support in the ICU.

In the end, he spent three months in hospital in total.

The incident caused him to be paralysed from the waist down, and when he returned to school, it was in a wheelchair.

Did not give up

Despite his condition affecting his speech and cognitive abilities, Ridhwan did not give up.

Ridhwan's mother, Siti, who is his primary caregiver, said her son was fairly independent and would handle his own revision.

"Mama, don't disturb me. I need to revise," he would tell her.

Siti would pack her son his lunch with his favourite foods and pass it to him at recess time, while her husband, who works as a delivery driver, would ferry him to and from school every day.

Teachers gave Ridhwan personal coaching to help him in his studies and relaxed his homework deadlines, while students chipped in to wheel him around in his wheelchair.

Still, Ridhwan struggled with the workload in Primary 5 due to his condition.

So, in the first term of 2024, the school decided to let him shift to the foundation curriculum instead of the standard curriculum which he previously studied, to help him cope better.

Ridhwan's year head teacher, Krishnaveni, described him as a very positive and determined student.

When she had a conversation with him about moving to a new environment and having new classmates in Primary 6, Ridhwan told her, "Yes, I will try".

And his efforts paid off.

Cried after getting PSLE results

It was an emotional day for Ridhwan when he received his PSLE results with the rest of his schoolmates on Nov. 20.

He did well enough to get into the school of his choice, Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School.

"I cried because I got my PSLE results. I was proud of myself," Ridhwan said.

Ridhwan added that he dreams of being a policeman or a teacher when he grows up.

Ridhwan's parents shared that they are glad that despite his condition, Ridhwan will be continuing to secondary school.

"I told him (Ridhwan) that whatever your result is, you did your best", said Siti.

Top image by Mothership