Mother's endless love for her only child

A woman who thought she might lose her eight-year-old daughter to the H1N1 or swine flu, three years ago, is delighted the girl can now move her fingers, blink and role her eyes.

Since Chan Yi Yuiin, now 11, contracted H1N1, her mother, Chan Lai Khin, 40, has been praying for a miracle every single day that her only child will recover and lead a normal life again.

"Yi Yuiin has been in coma for nearly two years and started to recover since a year ago. Despite the slight progress she has made, I believe there is still hope for her to recover," said Lai Khin during a meeting with the George Town Lions Club here today.

Lai Khin resigned from her job as cashier at a local mini market to take care of Yi Yuiin. With help from her husband and parents-in-law, they take turns to look after the girl.

"She needs attention all the time and we cannot afford to be careless, even for one second," she said.

Reminiscing the moment when her daughter was found H1N1 positive, Lai Khin said at first, she thought it was just a normal fever.

"I still remember she told me that she could not feel her hands and legs, and by the time we brought her to the hospital, the doctor did a CT scan and she was placed in the intensive care unit (ICU) (of the Penang Hospital).

"That was the last time I heard her voice," she recalled.

Yi Yuiin was placed in the ICU for more than seven months and after she could breathe on her own without using the machine, she was discharged.

Although Yi Yuiin is bed-ridden and can only eat liquid food, she is growing up to be a normal person.

"In 2012, she was 20kg and now she is 34kg, and I hope to see her grow up as a beautiful young lady," said Lai Khin who spends more than RM3,000 a month on her daughter's medical needs, among others.

More than RM100,000 has been spent on Yi Yuiin in the past three years. Yi Yuiin's school, SJK(C) Hun Bin has collected some RM90,000 in donations to help the girl meet her needs while the George Town Lions Club has raised some RM75,000 for Yi Yuiin since 2013.

Club chairman Lawrance Cheah Seong Paik, accompanied by several other club members presented a RM24,000 cheque to Lai Khin here today.

"So far, we have given a total of RM42,000 to help Yi Yuiin and her family," he said.