Divya Barathy, Head Nurse Opens Up About Caring For Tun Dr Mahathir & Tun Dr Siti Hasmah

A day before Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali passed away, she told the medical team caring for her and her husband, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, that she felt her time had come.

She also took a moment to thank them for caring for both her and her husband.

For K. Divya Barathy, 30, the head nurse who had cared for the couple for the past five years, those words remain difficult to forget.

“The day before she passed, Siti Hasmah mentioned that the time had come for her to go. She also thanked us for caring for her and her husband. I replied, ‘Please don't say that, Tun,’” she recalled, as reported by Berita Harian.

Divya said she never imagined that those would be among the last words she would hear from Siti Hasmah, who passed away the following morning.

“Those words still echo in my memory to this day. This loss is incredibly difficult for me to accept,” she said.

For five years, Divya and her team were more than just medical professionals caring for the couple. Alongside nurses Tiffany Chen Kah Lim, M Suganya and Nur Shahnila Amyra Mohd Saad, as well as physiotherapist Choo Zhang Hui, they became familiar faces in the couple’s everyday lives.

Following Siti Hasmah’s passing, the team remained by Tun Dr Mahathir’s side, focusing on his comfort and supporting him through an incredibly painful moment.

Divya said she found it difficult to offer simple words such as “It’s okay, Tun” or “You must be strong” because she had witnessed the depth of the couple’s bond.

Instead, they just stayed close.

“We wanted him to know that we were by his side,” she said.

For Divya, caring for the couple was not a professional responsibility. It was an experience she will carry with her for the rest of her life.

“I am deeply grateful to God for allowing my team and me to serve them,” she said.

“Beyond the honour of caring for a national legend, I will always cherish the warmth and affection we shared with them.”

Tun Dr Siti Hasmah, who lived to the age of 100, passed away at the National Heart Institute (IJN).

For the medical team who stood beside her through her final years, her last words of gratitude have now become a memory they will hold close to their hearts.

Source : Berita Harian 
Image credit : NST