![]() Mary Chin KOTA KINABALU: Rubber tapper Versailles Kudori, 31, an accident victim from Kg Matunggong, Matunggong, underwent bone grafting surgery for free on his right limb at the Sabah Medical Centre (SMC), recently.
This was made possible under the private hospital’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme. SMC was taken over by KPJ Healthcare Berhad (KPJ) in 2009.
SMC Chief Executive Officer, Mohd Azhar Abdullah said KPJ believes in the importance of giving back to society in gratitude for the amanah or trust that the public have bestowed the Group.
"We (KPJ) strive to uphold our corporate social responsibility through using the resources available to us.
Promoting a healthy lifestyle for the eventual economic good of the country is just one of the ways that KPJ contributes to the community," he said.
According to him, SMC’s participation in the Rotary Rural Health Camp in Bangi in April this year was part of SMC’s CSR activities.
We will continue to extend help to special groups through our Community Outreach programme," he assured.
SMC Consultant Orthopaedist & Interventional Pain Specialist, Dr Hoari Krishnan, conducted the free surgery on Versailles’ right leg under general anaesthesia.
"What I did Was to put a bone graft at the docking site of the bone on the patient’s right limb. For the purpose, I took out a little bit of bone from his left pelvis as it has a lot of growth potential," he explained.
Expressing his gratitude to the doctor and SMC Management, Versailles, who has a three-year-old daughter, said he could not imagine what would happen to his future without the free surgery. He fractured both his limbs in a road accident on Aug 1,2010. His right limb has since healed.
"I have been physically disabled for the last 15 months, and therefore not productive economically. My wife (Henny Seay, 30), who is a housewife, is now forced to tap rubber.
We don’t earn much, especially during the rainy season. She can’t go out to tap the rubber trees when it rains. We get only about RM200 to RM300 per month from the sale of coagulated latex," he lamented. He was discharged on Dec 3 (Saturday).
On that fateful day (Aug 1,2010), Versailles together with a younger brother, Woldman, 22, was travelling from Kota Marudu to their village (Kg Matunggong) in an 8-tonne lorry driven by his brother-in-law (wife’s brother) when the accident occurred. Woldman also fractured his limbs in the incident. The vehicle belonged to a soil testing company.
"It was about 3am when we reached Kg Batutai. It was raining and misty. The road was dark as there were no streetlights. When we reached a bend, the driver hit a tyre (on the road) behind a lorry parked in the middle of the road.
"As a result, he lost control and rammed into the lorry. Apparently, the lorry had a tyre puncture earlier and the driver had placed a spare tyre on the road (instead of a reflective CEO of Sabah triangle) as a warning sign," he recalled.Centre The lorry driver reportedly fled the scene when the accident happened.
According to Versailles, he and his brother-in-law saw a white apparition, clad in a white robe flick past before them when the collision occurred.
"It happened in the blink of an eye. We could not be wrong...what we saw was the face of Jesus Christ." Villagers from Kg Batutai, who came to their rescue, called for the ambulance from Kota Marudu district hospital.
We were trapped inside our lorry, and bleeding profusely," said Versailles. The trio were sent to the hospital for emergency treatment before being transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) 2 the same day.
"Due to blood loss, we were given intravenous drip to raise our blood pressure while at the Kota Marudu hospital." Upon admission to QEH 2 at 7am, Versailles was examined by then Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dr Hoari Krishnan.
"I found him in a bad shape. Both legs were broken and bleeding. He was semi-conscious," said the doctor.The victim was given wound debridement to clean the wound and remove bone fragments, as well as blood transfusion.
In May this year, Versailles had an external fixator (or monorail) fixed on the affected limb. The monorail actually cost RM15,000 but Dr Hoari, who has since joined SMC, man-aged to secure one for RM10,000 (paid through accident compensation).
"The purpose of the monorail is for bone transport to get new bone to replace the lost bone. It pulls bone from the top of the limb downwards to fill the gap at the rate of 1mm per day. Depending on the size of the gap (missing bone), it will have pulled down 10cm of bone by 100 days in the I~ealing process," the specialist explained.
Subsequently, Versailles underwent muscle flap reconstruction to cover the exposed bone on one part of the left limb prior to the bone grafting
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