PUBLISHED ONMay 14, 2022 4:02 AMByChing Shi JieBedridden in hospital and facing unbearable pain following multiple surgeries, burns survivor Raybe Oh found herself an unlikely cheerleader - a migrant worker recovering in a room next to hers.
On her long road towards recovery, this 26-year-old shared about how she struck up a friendship with burns survivor Hossain Jitu, Shin Min Daily News reported.
Lauded for her bravery, Oh was severely injured after trying to save her fiance from the fiery Tanjong Pagar crash last February.
Like Oh, Jitu was also warded at Singapore General Hospital's Burn Centre at around the same period.
Speaking to the Chinese daily, Oh said that since Jitu was warded in the room next to hers, this Bangladeshi national would greet her whenever he went past her room.
At a time when she was bedridden in hospital every day, Jitu's unexpected words of encouragement brought warmth to her heart, Oh shared, adding that her mother would also buy cakes for him whenever she visited.
Jitu, 33, was one of the five workers who were injured after an explosion at a factory in Tuas on Feb 24 last year. Three of his colleagues had died in the accident.
On the day that Oh was discharged from the hospital, she decided to exchange contact details with Jitu.
But their friendship did not end then, Shin Min Daily News reported.
After learning that Jitu was about to return to Bangladesh, Oh invited him over to her place for a meal.
Bonding over pizzas on Wednesday (May 11), the pair talked about their road to recovery, Oh told the Chinese daily.
Jitu suffered 54 per cent burns to his body while Oh had suffered burns to about 80 per cent of her body.
"Actually, my injury is more serious than his, and he is fine," she quipped.
Oh also shared that Jitu shared that he has plans to start a small business in Bangladesh.
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"Jitu told me that he likes Singapore very much, and hopes to come back to work. But he might be able to get a work visa," she said.
While Oh is recovering well following her stint in hospital, she still has to undergo several minor surgeries this year, and would not be making her getai comeback in July.
Oh, a former air stewardess, had spent months undergoing a total of 32 operations to clean her wounds and graft patches of skin all over her body, according to an Instagram Story shared on Dec 11 last year.
On Feb 23, 2021, five men, including Oh's late fiance, were killed after the car they were in crashed into a shophouse in Tanjong Pagar.
A coroner's hearing into the accident will begin on June 9, reported the Straits Times on Thursday (May 12).
