Ng, a member of the Civil Defence Force at the time, recalled how his ambulance was stopped by a frantic mother, pleading for help as her baby girl lay unresponsive in her arms. The child, barely a year old, had been caught in the waves and was not breathing.
“I performed CPR on her all the way to the hospital,” Ng recounted. “But I never found out if she survived. Sometimes, I still think about her.”
That day, chaos reigned as the tsunami wreaked havoc on the Indian Ocean basin. Ng’s ambulance, which was initially dispatched to respond to a car accident, quickly became overwhelmed with victims.
“Many injured people stopped us, begging for transport to the hospital. We ended up with 10 victims onboard—some sitting, others standing. Luckily, it was a large ambulance,” Ng said.
Among the victims was a five-year-old boy who had also stopped breathing. Ng successfully revived him using CPR.
Over the course of the day, Ng and his team made four trips between the hospital and the worst-hit areas of Batu Ferringhi and Tanjung Bungah. Navigating through gridlocked traffic was challenging, even with sirens blaring.
“Our driver took back roads and shortcuts to get the injured to the hospital as quickly as possible,” Ng shared.
He described the moment they first realized the magnitude of the disaster. “Along the coastal road, we noticed the waves behaving strangely—moving toward the shore in a straight, white line. It wasn’t until we reached Tanjung Bungah and Batu Ferringhi that we understood a tsunami had struck Penang.”
Ng was part of a four-person ambulance crew that day. While one of his colleagues has since passed away, the remaining three still recount their shared experiences whenever they meet.
Not to forget the miracle baby...
One of the most extraordinary survival stories from the tsunami is that of S. Thulaashi, who was just 22 days old at the time. Swept out to sea on a mattress during the first wave, she was miraculously brought back to shore by the second wave, still asleep on the same mattress.
Today, Thulaashi is a 19-year-old accounting student at Universiti Sains Malaysia, embracing life and her studies.
Her father, A. Suppiah, has held annual thanksgiving prayers by the beach every Dec 26, remembering those who perished and expressing gratitude for his daughter’s survival.
“I am grateful for the life I have and am enjoying my student days,” said Thulaashi, who will miss this year’s prayer session due to exams.
Source / Image Credit : The Star