SINGAPORE: A motorcyclist has died after a crash on Wednesday (Nov 8) along the East Coast Parkway (ECP), where a passenger jumped out of a minibus.
The police said they were alerted to an accident involving a minibus, lorry, and a motorcycle along ECP towards Marina Coastal Expressway, before the exit to Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway, at about 11.05am on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old motorcyclist was unconscious when he was taken to the hospital, where he died, police said on Thursday in response to CNA’s queries.Â
CNA understands a 38-year-old passenger on the minibus jumped out of the vehicle while it was along the expressway.
He was arrested shortly after the accident and is assisting with investigations.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it received a call for assistance along the ECP at about 11.05am on Wednesday and a man was taken to hospital.
Other drivers stopped to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the motorcyclist. Ms Lynn Long-Yam, a nurse with Active Global Respite Care, was the first person at the scene.
“I rushed over to the (motorcyclist) who was motionless. I called out to him, I tried to pat him on the shoulder, because he was lying on his left side, almost face down,” she said.
“He didn’t respond to me.”
A few minutes after she arrived, she was joined by marathoner Ashley Liew and his wife Sandra. The couple was driving by when they saw the commotion and stopped to help.
“Lynn managed to call 995. When she was on the phone with 995, they told her ‘you need to turn him around and do CPR’,” said Mrs Liew.
They turned him around and found the motorcyclist was bleeding from his head and his wrist was broken.
With Ms Long-Yam and Mr Liew continuing to do CPR, Mrs Liew stayed on the phone with the ambulance service to coordinate plans.
“Shortly after both of us started CPR, another (person) joined us. She is a Tan Tock Seng (staff member) … she was also helping to check on the casualty and his vitals,” said Mr Liew.
Ms Long-Yam and Mr Liew took turns performing CPR before the ambulance arrived.
The minibus driver told them it was about 15 to 20 minutes before anyone stopped to help them. When the nurse heard about the delay, she became worried.
“My heart dropped, because coming from the medical line, we know how important it is to start CPR immediately, we know how important it is to get help immediately,” she said.
Mr Liew added: “The whole point is a lot of time elapsed from the point of incident … all of us think that had someone intervened earlier, stopped to check to call for help, even if you don’t know how to do CPR … at least call for assistance.
“Those precious 15, 30 minutes could be better utilised.”
Ms Long-Yam and the couple said they were in touch with the motorcyclist’s family and sent their condolences. They learnt from his family that the motorcyclist’s wife was pregnant.
“My heart just broke because I have a two-year-old (daughter) myself. It’s really difficult to imagine a life for (my daughter) that doesn’t have me or my husband in it,” Ms Long-Yam said.