'Thankful to be alive': Sunday Staples founder knocked down by truck at East Coast, leg completely immobilised

After Cherri Wong was knocked down by a tipper truck, which ran over her right leg twice and left it completely immobilised, she has been in severe pain, but said she is thankful to be alive.

The day of the accident began like any other.

Around 9:30am on Apr. 16, Wong was heading home after dropping off her daughter at her preschool.

She crossed the road at the junction between Upper East Coast Road and Bayshore Road, and as she turned to her left to look out for her bus, a huge truck came from the right and struck her to the ground.

Both her legs were run over.

In her shock, she managed to shift only her left leg away in time, leaving her right one to suffer the impact again from the truck's rear wheels.

11 out of 10

Along with shock, disbelief, and intense pain, Wong was also utterly confused.

She clutched the hands of a woman who kindly rushed over to help, and repeatedly asked her, "It was green man, right? I saw it was green man!"

The woman told her it was. "It's not your fault. It's not your fault," she kept comforting Wong.

Someone called an ambulance, and when the paramedics came and asked what her pain score was, Wong shouted that it was 11 out of 10.

The police were also alerted to the accident. In response to Mothership's queries, they said that a 43-year-old male tipper truck driver is assisting with investigations.

Immobilised

The accident gave Wong fractures in many limbs, including her femur, patella, tibia, ankle, and metatarsal bones in her foot.

The skin on her feet was also badly damaged, and further scans revealed that the ligaments around her right knee and ankles were badly torn.

Despite a surgery that went well, Wong's right leg remains immobilised, needing an ankle and knee brace for the foreseeable future.

The pain also has not gone away, causing her to become reliant on painkillers and sleeping pills to sleep at night.

A lot of adjustments

Wong has a long road ahead of her to full recovery.

"I will have to relearn how to do even the most basic things like walking, standing, and sitting," she told Mothership.

She added that she also worries about having to be away from her business and family.

Wong, who has been very involved in her footwear company Sunday Staples, now has to cancel several business trips and will have to take time off from work.

That's because she is largely bedridden now and under Farrer Park Hospital's recovery programme.

Her young children have not taken her absence very well. In a video Wong posted on her Instagram, she tried to console one of her daughters who was crying in the hotel room.

"I am eager to go home to be with them," Wong said. "However, I am also very daunted by the challenges that we will face due to my vulnerability and immobility."

Her anchor

Even as she shared about her severe pain and uncertainty of the future, Wong expressed optimism and gratitude about her circumstances.

"I am extremely thankful to be alive and still be with my family," she said.

"My husband and children have been a huge anchor during this time, especially my husband, who has completely stopped work to look after me full-time. I am just so thankful that my girls still have their Mummy, and my husband still has his wife."

Thinking about how her accident happened so near a pre-school, she wanted to remind drivers of large vehicles to be more aware of their surroundings, and look out especially for young children.