A 10-year-old girl who was critically injured after being run over by a lorry in a crash near the Kubang Kerian traffic light intersection on Sunday has died after fighting for her life for nearly 24 hours.
Putri Nur Aishah Abdullah, a Year Four pupil at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kubang Kerian 2, was pronounced dead at 4.02pm on Monday, according to her mother, Nadja Aida Natasha Mohd Noor, 30.
Nadja said the accident happened at around 3.15pm while Putri Nur Aishah was riding pillion on a motorcycle driven by her 61-year-old grandfather, Bakri Daud.
They were on their way home to Kampung Chicha after having a meal together.
She said it had been her father’s daily routine to pick Putri Nur Aishah up from school as both she and her husband were working.
Recounting the incident, Nadja said the motorcycle carrying her daughter and father was believed to have brushed against a lorry travelling in the same direction before both fell from the motorcycle.
“My father fell to the left and only suffered minor injuries, while my daughter fell to the right and was run over around the abdomen by the lorry,” she said.
The lorry driver stopped after realising there had been a collision and was shocked to see the girl trapped underneath the vehicle with serious injuries, she said.
Putri Nur Aishah was rushed to Hospital Pakar Universiti Sains Malaysia (HPUSM) in Kubang Kerian and placed in the Red Zone after suffering critical injuries and severe blood loss.
Doctors performed emergency surgery to insert metal supports around her pelvis in an attempt to control the bleeding before transferring her to the intensive care unit.
However, Nadja said her daughter’s platelet count continued to fall after the surgery and she lost a significant amount of blood.
Despite the operation, the bleeding did not stop. Doctors later called Nadja the following day to discuss a second surgery to determine the source of the continued bleeding.
During the discussion, however, Putri Nur Aishah’s heart suddenly stopped for around 15 minutes.
Doctors performed CPR and managed to restore her pulse.
Nadja said she told the doctors she did not want to proceed with a second operation unless there was a guarantee that her daughter could recover.
“Doctors then explained that even if another operation was performed, there was no guarantee that my daughter could be saved, as her oxygen level had also fallen to around 30 per cent,” she said.
Putri Nur Aishah was later laid to rest at the Kampung Chicha Muslim Cemetery at around 9.30pm on Monday.
Nadja said she accepted her daughter’s death but was saddened that the lorry driver had yet to meet the family or apologise since the accident.
