Premature baby saved after pregnant woman dies in Jurong West accident, Latest Singapore News - The New Paper
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Premature baby saved after pregnant woman dies in Jurong West accident

This article is more than 12 months old

Doctors managed to save a premature baby after her mother was killed in a road accident in Jurong West on Saturday.

The victim, Ms Goh Chieh Ting, 25, was six months pregnant when she was hit by a lorry while crossing the road, Shin Min Daily News reported yesterday.

After she died in hospital, doctors performed an emergency caesarean section to save her daughter. The baby is in stable condition, said her family at Ms Goh's wake at Jurong West last evening.

About 100 of her friends and relatives were there to pay their respects.

Her mother and husband declined to be interviewed but her grandaunt, Madam Yau Siew Mek, 64, told The Straits Times: "The baby is healthy and large for her age."

While she has not seen the infant, she added: "Family members have been to see the baby and to tell her to be strong."

Relatives told ST that Ms Goh, who was from Johor, had lived in Singapore for at least five to six years, and married her husband late last year.

Witnesses of the 8am accident on Jurong West Avenue 1, near Block 456, told Shin Min that Ms Goh was holding the hand of a woman, believed to be her mother-in-law, as they crossed the road.

A lorry turning right from a carpark hit them after the driver could not stop in time.

The two women had been heading to the market after breakfast when tragedy struck.

Cleaner Yi Fan, 21, who was working at Block 456, told Shin Min: "The woman who was hit was lying on the legs of the other woman, and the right side of her body was full of blood."

Ms Goh was taken unconscious to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where she died at 9.30am from severe head injuries.

The police said the 46-year-old male driver has been arrested for causing death by negligence.

Madam Yau said Ms Goh's mother-in-law doted on her, saying: "She's been crying non-stop since the incident."

One of Ms Goh's cousins, who declined to be named, told ST: "We are thankful for the doctors at Ng Teng Fong Hospital for making the quick decision to save the baby."

Another aunt, who last saw Ms Goh in Johor Baru during Chinese New Year, told ST that "she was a very filial and obedient child".

Her uncle, Mr James Liaw, 36, told ST: "She was always very friendly, approachable and bubbly.

"Things are not going to be the same without her around."

FOR MORE, READ THE STRAITS TIMES TODAY

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