JERTIH: The mother of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) student Nur Erika Alisya Mohd Zaidi, who was seriously injured in the tragic road accident on the East-West Highway in Gerik, Perak on June 9, has called on the public to pray for her daughter’s speedy recovery.
Noorzailizan Zakaria@ Ariffin, 41, said her daughter, who sustained injuries to both hands and her neck, could only lie in bed at the Sultanah Nur Zahirah Hospital (HSNZ) in Kuala Terengganu after being flown from the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh, Perak, via the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department helicopter on Saturday (June 21).
“She’s in stable condition and has shown positive development, but she needs help with her movements because she can’t move her hands properly due to the many fractures sustained.
“Nur Erika Alisya’s right hand has had rods inserted into her shoulder, elbow and wrist as well as into the elbow and wrist of her left hand. She also has to wear a neck brace due to a fracture,” she said when contacted by Bernama today.
The housewife, who lives in Kampung Alor Keladi in Hulu Besut near here, said that she and her 45-year-old husband, who works as an assistant handyman, currently take turns to care for the eldest of three siblings.
Noorzailizan said that the 21-year-old Nur Erika Alisya is still traumatised and often recalls the tragic incident, which claimed the lives of 15 of her campus friends.
“For example, during the ambulance ride from the Sultan Mahmud Airport in Kuala Nerus to HSNZ on Saturday, she was scared and cried throughout the journey. She also dislikes having the ceiling fan switched on at full speed as it causes her to recall the tragic incident,” she said.
Noorzailizan hopes that her daughter, who is a Bachelor of Islamic Education student, will recover quickly so that she can pursue her ambition to become an ustazah (religious teacher).
In the early morning incident on June 9, 15 UPSI students died when a bus specially rented from Jertih to return to the university’s main campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak, overturned after being involved in an accident with a Perodua Alza on the highway.
The accident also resulted in 33 others being injured, including the bus driver and co-driver, as well as the driver and three passengers of the multi-purpose vehicle (MPV).
