The private school student also excelled in sports, representing her former school, Compassvale Secondary, in running competitions.

But for the past week, Nurashikeen has been lying almost motionless in the intensive care unit at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), relying on nurses to turn her over every two hours.

LAST MESSAGE

She had fractured her spine after the accident early on 29 Mar, when a friend offered her a ride to Anchorvale in Sengkang to go fishing.

The police received a call at 1.15am that day informing them of a collision between a van and a motorcycle along Hougang Avenue 2.

The teens involved were taken to TTSH and the police are investigating the case.

The last time Nurashikeen's mother heard from her daughter was at 10pm on 28 Mar, a Friday.

Nurashikeen had sent her an SMS message to ask her if she wanted to join her at Heartland Mall at Kovan to shop or eat.

The mall is 10 to 15 minutes' walk from their rented apartment.

Her mother, Madam Normala, 42, a property consultant, replied to say she would not go, and after that, there were no more messages from the girl.

But at 11pm and midnight, Madam Normala sent out messages again, with no response.

'I was starting to get angry because she still hadn't returned home,' the mother said.

When she woke at 6am and found that her daughter had still not returned, she sent a text message to her ex-husband.

Mr Iqbal Mohdayub, 52, a designer who is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, also tried contacting the teen. But her phone was turned off.

Mr Iqbal and Madam Normala divorced in 2003, and she is a single parent raising three children, aged 9 to 21.

It was later that Saturday that Madam Normala got a call from the hospital, informing her that Nurashikeen had been hospitalised.

She said: 'I still couldn't accept that it was her, and I kept asking the hospital if it was sure it was my daughter.'

PANICKED

Mr Iqbal, who broke down when he learnt the news from his wife, said: 'I panicked, I couldn't do anything, I felt so helpless.

'She is my favourite kid, she calls me in Kuala Lumpur all the time, and we used to go for exercise all the time.

'Now, I'm very scared that I cannot enjoy these things with her anymore.'

He rushed back from KL and has spent his time by his daughter's bedside, whispering words of comfort to her and stroking her hair.

Mr Iqbal and Nurashikeen would see each other every month, when he came to Singapore to see his family.

She would also go up to Kuala Lumpur during school holidays and stay with him.

He said: 'When the doctor told me that there is a 90 per cent chance that her legs would be paralysed, the only thought in my mind was, 'This is impossible. She's only 17, she has her whole life ahead of her. How can this be happening?'

Exactly how the accident happened is not clear and this still upsets Nurashikeen's parents.

Madam Normala said: 'I'm so confused, it's not fair. It's been days after the accident, and we still don't know how it happened.

'The only thing I know is that she is going to be paralysed. For what? I don't know.'

Her friend who was riding the motorcycle, Muhammad Shafiq Kamsari, said he can't remember what happened.

He was discharged on 30 Mar as he had minor injuries.

The 18-year-old pizza delivery boy said: 'I only remember riding, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital. It was only when I saw my helmet that I realised how bad the accident was. The impact was so great, my helmet cracked.'

Muhammad Shafiq, who is known to his friends as Apit, had known Nurashikeen for just a month.

He had invited her to go fishing with him and their mutual friends the night of the accident.

He said: 'I'm sad for my pillion.

'There is not a scratch on my body, but I was told that she is going to be paralysed.'

When The New Paper on Sunday visited Nurashikeen earlier this week, the formerly chatty girl could barely open her eyes and had a lot of difficulty speaking.

She was still having blood drained out of her lungs.

Her right cheek was marred by an abrasion the size of a 50-cent coin, and her forehead and chin were heavily bandaged. Her face was also badly swollen.

She had been through brain, chest and abdomen scans and had an operation to insert a metal implant into her spine to prevent it from moving and causing more injury.

Dr Fong Shee Yan, the spine surgeon who operated on Nurashikeen, said that her spine was fractured at the point of impact.

He said: 'Such injuries can be permanent. There is a limit to what medical care can do.

'Injuries to the spine can change a person's life forever.'

This story was first published in The New Paper on Apr 6, 2008.