Young man with special needs gets help from SMRT staff on train
It was an ordinary day at work for assistant station manager Husri Hussein on Jan 3, until he received an alert on his walkie-talkie at 1.45pm that the emergency communication button had been activated on a train pulling into Dover station.
With no other information, Mr Husri and Mr Tan Tuck Yong, senior station manager at Dover station, swiftly boarded the train, where they spotted a young man shouting “mummy not picking up” in agitation and slamming his hands on the seats next to him.
The other passengers were either moving away from the cabin or staring at the young man in fear, observed Mr Husri, 40.
As the father of a child with special needs, the scene was all too familiar to Mr Husri. His 10-year-old son, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, also shows his anxiety through actions whenever his daily routine is disrupted. The assistant station manager knew he had to approach the young man gently, so he sat next to him and was quiet for close to 30 seconds to give him time to cool down.
Mr Husri proceeded to calmly ask the man why he was shouting, while rubbing his shoulder to reassure him. The young man responded, saying loudly that he could not get hold of his mother on the phone. Following that, Mr Husri fist-bumped the young man to coax him to speak at an appropriate volume.
The incident was witnessed by The Straits Times reader Phillip Chang, 20, who wrote in to commend the staff on how they “demonstrated exemplary care” and compassion to the young man with special needs.
Mr Chang, who has completed his full-time national service, said the staff “had it under control” and did so “with care and gentleness”.
He added that a fellow passenger had activated the emergency communication button and pointed out to the staff where the distressed youth was. Describing this as a “beautiful reminder of the goodness in people”, Mr Chang said he was heartened by how other passengers chose to help instead of recording the situation on video for social media.
Mr Husri said they found out that the young man, who ST understands was 20 years old, was alighting in four stops at Redhill station, and the staff there were promptly alerted to meet him.
Mr Husri kept him occupied by encouraging him to call his mother whenever the train stopped at a station, which encouraged him to become less agitated. He reassured him that the staff would stay with him until his mother picked up.
To calm the young man down further, Mr Husri chatted with him about the video game Genshin Impact, as he noticed that the man had one of the game characters on his phone’s lock screen.
But once the train arrived at Redhill station, the young man started shouting loudly again, still unable to contact his mother. Mr Husri guided him off the train, while the Redhill station staff sat him down at the passenger service centre.
Mr Lee Sze Yuin, station manager at Redhill station, observed that the young man looked emotional and unhappy, so he fist-bumped him to assure him that he would keep trying to reach his mother.
Mr Lee, 46, also tried calling the man’s father and grandmother. He chatted with him about celebrity footballers to distract him. Ten minutes later, when his mother returned the call, the young man’s face immediately lit up.
The episode came to a close only after Mr Lee confirmed with her that the young man was able to return home alone, and that was when the station manager waved goodbye to him just outside the station.
ST could not contact the young man or his mother.
Mr Husri hopes for members of the public to show greater empathy for people with special needs, instead of being afraid of them. He said: “When I first entered the train, I was wondering why no one was helping or trying to calm him down, and some passengers were looking so scared. He was sitting alone, and I wished more people offered help... But they just kept looking at him.
“Once, my son was shouting in public, and an old lady scolded me and asked if I didn’t know how to take care of my son... As a father, I wanted to flare up, but I just said sorry to her.”
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