For K. Logeswaran’s family, Deepavali will forever be remembered with painful thoughts of their loss.

Shortly before his untimely death, the 20-year-old cleaner who worked in Singapore had told his mother K. Nageswari that he would be bringing home money for the festival so they could go shopping together.

“That was our last conversation.

“And then I saw his body at the mortuary at 6.30pm on Tuesday,” Nageswari, 49, told The Star at their home in Ladang Rubana here before Logeswaran’s burial yesterday afternoon.

The third of four children was among the six killed in the Hospital Sultanah Aminah fire in Johor Baru on Tuesday morning.

He had been warded at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) due to a spinal fracture after an accident – his second in recent weeks – in Tampoi, Johor, on Saturday.

Nageswari said her son, who had just started his new job 13 days ago, called her before the mishap to say he was looking forward to returning home for Deepavali.

“In fact, he had recovered from another bad accident before taking up his latest job.

“His aim had always been for us to have a good life,” she said.

K. Sethupathy, 23, who works in Kuala Lumpur, said he saw his brother for the last time when he visited him at the hospital on Monday following the accident.

“Doctors told us that they couldn’t do the spine operation because his heart rate was slow. They advised us to wait for a week,” he said.

On Tuesday, when news of the fire broke, the family rushed to the hospital but was not allowed in. They also heard that patients in the ICU had been rescued.

Sethupathy, who was with his mother and Logeswaran’s friend A. Kovalan then, said hopes of seeing his brother alive vanished when they were called into a room in the hospital.

“A Datuk told us the bad news. Our mother fainted upon hearing the news and we didn’t know how to react,” he said.

Kovalan, 29, who is from the same estate as Logeswaran’s family, said his friend was excited about going home for Deepavali.

“He was really dedicated to his family,” said Kovalan, who was also involved in the car accident as Logeswaran but escaped with minor injuries.

Logeswaran’s eldest sister K. Vikneswary, 26, said she would dearly feel the loss of her brother.

“I just want the authorities to investigate the incident thoroughly and not let this happen again.

“Maybe my brother is fated to go.

“But hospitals are meant to save lives ... look what happened to him?” she said.

Source:
courtesy of THE STAR

by The Star Online

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