Singaporean suffers stroke in Poland; son raises $24,000 to bring him home
A Singaporean man had a stroke while on holiday in Poland and his son has raised more than $24,000 online to bring him back home.
Mr Norhisam Buang, 48, left for the European country with a close friend on Nov 1, the son, Mr Mohamed Hakim told Malay-language news publication Berita Harian.
They were supposed to return on November 13.
Mr Norhisam was on his way back to the hotel from a store on Nov 3 when the stroke happened.
"I was told that as my father was walking back, he dropped the bag he was carrying, but he was unaware of it," said Mr Hakim, 22.
"My father said he felt drunk and was unable to stand up. He couldn't feel his left arm and leg."
Passers-by called an ambulance to take Mr Norhisam to a Warsaw hospital, where he was diagnosed with bleeding on the right side of his brain.
Mr Hakim said his father’s condition is now improving.
"But he has not fully recovered to go home on his own and is still quite weak."
To bring his father home, Mr Hakim has to fly him back to Singapore under medical care, which is estimated to cost around $23,000.
Although he had managed to raise the amount, Mr Hakim said it took around seven days for the Gogetfunding site to process the transfer of the money to his account.
He also has to figure out how to transfer the money to Poland which might take even longer.
Following his fundraising request online, several netizens asked Mr Hakim why his father did not get travel insurance.
Mr Hakim told BH that his father had purchased basic travel insurance, but it did not cover the cost of his treatment in Poland due to his dad's previous health condition.
Mr Norhisam had recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure.
"Due to the diagnosis, the insurance he bought could not cover any incident linked to his high blood pressure," said Mr Hakim.
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