She was helpless, alone, and bleeding profusely.
But thankfully for octogenarian ‘Auntie Lily’, kind NTUC Fairprice staff were on the scene to offer her assistance.
On Oct 13, disaster struck when Facebook user Sim Cher Guan’s 81-year-old mother, known affectionately as Auntie Lily on his Facebook page, tripped.
She was making her way up the stairs near her home in Toa Payoh when she fell and suffered a deep cut on her chin. She began bleeding profusely from her wound.
In a Facebook post, Sim wrote that kind strangers quickly offered her assistance: “Two kind Indian passersby helped her up and offered her a box of tissue to stop her bleeding.”
However, Auntie Lily was at a loss as to what to do from there. She was alone and did not have her handphone with her.
Despite the excruciating pain, she made the decision to head back towards HDB Hub to catch a taxi to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Sim wrote: “She must have been a sight, with her blood-soaked blouse and pants.”
Thankfully, help came soon.
“As she was passing by the outside of NTUC Fairprice at HDB Hub, the staff personnel saw her blood-stained state and rushed out to ask her if she needed help.”
“They then brought her to the office and administered first aid on her gash and to clean her up. But unfortunately, that didn’t stop the bleeding as the cut was far too deep,” Sim wrote.
“They next asked if they should call an ambulance for her, to which she refused as she felt it wasn’t serious enough to warrant that.”
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He added that the concerned staff didn’t give up, and insisted that Auntie Lily head to a nearby clinic to get her wound checked out. “But she was at a loss as it was Sunday and she wasn’t sure which of the clinics would be opened,” Sim explained. “The staff then went about finding out and succeeded in locating one nearby at Toa Payoh Central.”
Auntie Lily then made her way to the clinic, and succeeded in getting the deep gash on her chin stitched up.
Ending the post with a note of gratitude, Sim wrote: “I want to record my heartfelt thanks to the staff of Fairprice NTUC for helping my mum on that fateful Sunday afternoon; and for making her feel comforted despite the harrowing experience. This kind gesture is very much appreciated by my family.”
He also tagged the CEO of NTUC Fairprice and Member of Parliament, Seah Kian Peng, and added: “Thought you may like to know about this and how great the staff at Fairprice was!”
The act of kindness by the NTUC Fairprice’s staff struck a chord with netizens. Sim’s Facebook post has been shared over 80 times, and flooded with kind comments.
One Ashwani Sharma wrote: “A gracious society of helpful people. Accidents do happen and we must do our part. Wishing her a very speedy recovery.”
Another, Angie Chong left her well-wishes and added: “Thank goodness for those kind-hearted people.”
Seah even replied: “Sorry to hear about this incident and I hope your mom is feeling much better now; thanks for your kind compliments and NTUC Fairprice is indeed blessed to have staff like whom your mom encountered.”
He continued: “One of our service motto is service from the heart; to be empathetic and to be helpful. I will pass on your compliments to the store manager and the team at our Toa Payoh HDB Hub store. Take care and best wishes to your mom and all in the family.”