'The blood was everywhere': 14-year-old recounts experience working as trauma cleaner with dad

It's not uncommon for teenagers to look for part-time work while still in school, perhaps as a way to earn some extra pocket money or save up for an item they want.

Darwisy is one such industrious youngster, except he isn't working in F&B or retail like many people his age.

"I'm helping my father in trauma cleaning," the 14-year-old said in a YouTube video uploaded by the You Got Watch channel on Aug 18.

His father, 41-year-old Rahman, was also present for the interview and explained the job scope: "We actually clean up the remains of dead bodies. Especially bodily fluids, blood, maggots, that kind of thing. So we have to disinfect and sanitise the entire area."

Rahman was initially employed in a company doing general cleaning and disinfecting work, until he got the call to clean a trauma scene. Since there were no other companies offering trauma cleaning services at the time, he said, it felt like a "calling" for him.

Initially, Darwisy was curious about his dad's work and asked if he could join him.

According to the Ministry of Manpower, children between 13 and 15 are permitted to work in certain jobs for a maximum for six hours a day, with no more than three hours without a 30-minute break.

"The first time I went there, the house was already in a really bad condition," Darwisy recalled. "The blood was everywhere, so I was a bit like, 'Oh, disgusting'."

Nevertheless, his dad told him to pick up a squeegee and start cleaning, and that's exactly what Darwisy did.

Rahman initially had reservations about his children joining his line of work as he felt their education was more important.

"But I'm willing to give an opportunity to those who want it," he added.

His older daughter Qasrina started accompanying him to the job when she was 15, and Darwisy more recently at 14.

By exposing his kids to his work, Rahman said: "I hope that they are able to see life differently. For us, as a family, we believe that death can come to us at any time, anywhere. So we should live life for the moment."

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD7ZoYGxsF4&ab_channel=YouGotWatch[/embed]

'Whatever I had planned for my life would be gone just like that'

The most gruesome scene Darwisy has encountered to date was at his most recent assignment, where father and son were initially told that they would only need to clean the toilet.

"I went into the bedroom and the blood was everywhere," he recounted. "The cupboard, the bed frame, it seeped through even the cardboard."

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Rahman, on the other hand, recalled a case that was both gruesome and sad, occurring in a newly-built estate.

"The body was actually found behind the main door. It all started from the bathroom so we believe he actually had a fall," he said. "We could actually see the struggle — we could see that he was trying to hold onto the sink and whatever else that he tried to hold onto.

"The whole toilet was covered in the blood trails, and finally he succumbed at the back of the front door."

Rahman felt sympathetic towards the deceased, who had just bought a new home and suffered an unexpected fatal fall.

"Whatever that I had planned for my life would be just gone like that," he said, putting himself in the man's shoes.

'You could see that so many people cared for him'

Some of the trauma scenes have even changed how Rahman and Darwisy view life and death.

For Rahman, the recent case of an elderly Malay man who died just before Hari Raya came to mind. At the scene, Rahman noticed a set of baju kurung and surmised the man must have been looking forward to the event.

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"When I posted it on my TikTok account, it suddenly went viral and many people actually prayed for him," he continued. "Upon his death, you could see that so many people actually cared for him."

Darwisy came face-to-face with a hoarding situation for the first time at only his second assignment.

"There were dead birds in their cages with faeces everywhere," he recounted.

Visiting the house where two men lived, Darwisy learned that they were a pair of brothers and discovered that out of the two, "apparently the healthy brother died."

"The healthy brother was taking care of him and then he ended up dying," he continued.

"It really changed my perspective, that anyone could die at any point."

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drimac@asiaone.com