HE is getting $800,000, but that's of little comfort to former policeman Wong Chee Kang.

The 51-year-old cannot walk, talk or swallow and is fed through a tube, after being knocked down by a motorcyclist.

The court awarded Mr Wong the damages, which will be paid by the motorcyclist's insurer.

The total damages were initially set at $1.05 million, and the final sum was based on a 75 per cent liability on the part of the motorcyclist.

Mr Wong, then 47, was a police officer based at the Police Cantonment Complex. He was crossing the road at the junction of New Bridge Road and Cantonment Road when a motorcycle hit him at 5.42pm on 26 Mar 2004.

He sustained a fractured skull, internal bleeding and brain injury.

He was rushed to the Singapore General Hospital, where several operations were performed to remove broken bones and blood clots in his head and to stabilise his condition.

He was left brain-damaged and paralysed. A breathing tube also had to be inserted in his throat. After spending some time in a nursing home and community hospital, he was allowed to go home in June 2004.

When The New Paper visited Mr Wong at home, he was lying on a bed and staring blankly ahead.

His younger sister, Ms Wong Lan Fong, said: 'My brother was a healthy and strong man who was looking forward to starting an electrical business after he retired.

'Now he cannot look after himself and at least one adult has to be around to look after him.'

Her daughter said: 'My uncle can only lie on his bed and has to be fed a special liquid diet five times daily through a tube. He can only slightly move his right hand.'

Neurosurgeon Prem Pillay, who examined Mr Wong after the accident, said in a report submitted to the court that Mr Wong's condition was permanent and he would need a special wheelchair and commode as well as ongoing speech, physical and occupational therapy.

He said Mr Wong was also prone to seizures about once every two months and would need medication for that.

Orthopaedic surgeon Lee Soon Tai said in a report that Mr Wong would need at least two people to look after him. His medication would cost about $200 and his nutrition $300 monthly.

HAD TO HIRE MAID

Ms Wong, who was authorised to act on his behalf by the court in 2005, said she had to hire a maid and her sister also had to neglect her business to look after their brother.

She is also looking after his children, a daughter, 13 and a son, 12. Mr Wong's wife died of cancer in 2000.

'Once we were leading our own happy lives. But the accident turned our lives upside down,' Ms Wong said.

On 19 Jan 2005, the motorcyclist, despatch clerk Mohammad Rizal Abdul Khadir, 25, was convicted of failing to keep a proper lookout and riding without reasonable consideration for other road users. He was fined $800 and disqualified from driving or riding all classes of vehicles for six months.

This article was first published by The New Paper on Mar 3, 2008.

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