THIS actually happened to Mr Ling Swee Chan: He did not see the oncoming train till it was too late.

But the crash survivor, now paralysed from the chest down, is not one to feel sorry. He continues to devote time to care for others.

For example, despite being unable to walk, Mr Ling went to Cambodia in November to visit orphans in the orphanage he had set up in 2003 with friends.

A partner in a property consultancy firm and an avid golfer, Mr Ling, 60, was in Alabama, the United States, with his wife Margaret to visit their daughter, Dawn.

Dawn, now 27, was then living in Alabama with her husband who was on a training attachment there.

The Lings, who also have a son, were driving out of a golf course after a golf game when Mrs Ling suddenly saw a train approaching.

Mr Ling said: 'We did not see the railway track which cut across the golf course. There was no barrier, no red light and no sound to signal that a train was coming. When I saw the train, it was too late.'

Despite the collision, Mrs Ling had only a torn knee ligament while Dawn escaped unscathed.

However, Mr Ling's spine was severed, his lungs had collapsed and his jaw was broken into three parts.

Surgeons had to insert a breathing tube into his throat and reconstruct his jaw, among other procedures.

He spent more than six months in hospital in the US as well as in Singapore.

An active man who used to swim thrice a week and play golf at least once weekly, he found himself wheelchair- bound and dependent on others for his every need.

Unable to grip anything with his fingers, he could not hold a spoon or use a computer keyboard to type. He could not bathe himself or go to the toilet.

Yet, ever the self-described optimist, he never lost hope or despaired, said Mrs Ling, a 56-year-old housewife.

In fact, in the past year, he has been visiting friends and acquaintances going through tough times to encourage them, said Mrs Ling, his wife of 32 years.

Read the full report in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.