Father-of-three dies two days after collapsing on football field

He loved playing football and was a big fan of Liverpool Football Club.

But while playing the sport last week, he collapsed after suffering a cardiac arrest.

His friends tried desperately to help him and called for an ambulance. They managed to resuscitate him but he died two days later.

Mr Mohd Farid Muhaiyah, 43, an operations executive for a shipping company, was playing in a football match with his colleagues at the PSA Club at 3 Bukit Chermin Rd in Telok Blangah last Monday when he collapsed without warning.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force was alerted at about 6.50pm and sent an unconscious Mr Farid to Singapore General Hospital.

His wife, Madam Nurlina Salim, was told that even though Mr Farid was successfully resuscitated in the ambulance, he slipped into a coma as soon as he arrived at the hospital.

HEARTBROKEN: (Above) A picture of a comatose Mr Mohd Farid Muhaiyah, taken by his son Muhammad Firdaus Mohd Farid. PHOTO COURTESY OF MR MUHAMMAD
FIRDAUS MOHD FARID

Speaking from their four-room flat in Sengkang, Madam Nurlina, 41, a housewife, said she received the news at about 7pm that day while preparing for evening prayers.

The mother of three children, aged 18, 14 and 11, told The New Paper: "I felt a little relieved after his colleague told me he had been resuscitated in the ambulance. It never crossed my mind it would go downhill from there."

Madam Nurlina rushed to SGH with her eldest son. There, they were told that Mr Farid, who was the sole breadwinner, had slipped into a coma.

The doctor said that his chances of survival were "less than 50 per cent".

So she brought their children to the hospital the next day.

Madam Nurlina said: "When he heard their voices, he did not open his eyes but I saw a tear trickle down his face. It broke my heart."

During the two days Mr Farid was in a coma, his children hardly left his side, except when they needed to eat or get some sleep.

At about 3pm last Wednesday, Madam Nurlina and the kids went to the hospital's food court to have lunch since her sister-in-law was with Mr Farid. Ten minutes into the meal, Madam Nurlina's sister-in-law frantically called her, telling her to return to the ward.

But it was too late.

Madam Nurlina said: "By the time I came up, he was gone. I wanted to break down but my children were already crying so I had to be strong for them.

"Before I left, I kissed him on his cheek. That was our final goodbye."

Mr Farid was brought home to be buried last Thursday.

SON'S SCHOLARSHIP

Madam Nurlina said he had earlier prepared his clothes and even bought a new smartphone because their eldest son, Mr Muhammad Firdaus Mohd Farid, was going to receive a Peter Lim scholarship last Friday for his achievements in taekwondo.

Mr Farid had wanted to take pictures of his son on stage.

Mr Firdaus, who is studying information technology at Temasek Polytechnic, said he understood the additional responsibility he has to shoulder from now on.

"Everyone will lose their father some day, it just happened to be sooner for me," he said. "I hope I can take care of my mother and my sisters as well as he did."

Madam Nurlina said she will be looking for a job. "Now I'm both their mother as well as their father so it's my responsibilty to put food on the table for my kids," she said.

"It will take a lot of readjustment for my family but we will go through it together. Without a doubt, we will miss him every day."

"I wanted to break down but my children were already crying so I had to be strong for them. Before I left, I kissed him on his cheek. That was our final goodbye."

- Madam Nurlina Salim, on seeing her husband minutes after he died in hospital

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CARDIAC ARREST

A cardiac arrest happens when the heart stops beating due to abnormal heart rhythms, heart problems, or a heart attack, said Dr Peter Yan, a cardiologist at Peter Yan Cardiology Clinic.

During a cardiac arrest, the brain will cease to function and the person will die within minutes without immediate treatment, said Dr Yan.

Said Dr Dinesh Nair, a cardiologist at Mount Elizabeth Hospital: "Every minute that help is delayed reduces the chance of survival by up to 10 per cent."

Over 1,800 people suffer cardiac arrests outside of a hospital in Singapore every year, half of whom are below 60 years old.

The estimated survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests here is 3 to 4 per cent.