Blind and deaf 72-year-old woman who inspired Eric Khoo's movie

Chan in Singapore General Hospital with her stuffed panda Popo and in the award-winning film Be With Me. Her zest for life had inspired film-maker Eric Khoo.PHOTOS: RICHARD KOH, ZHAO WEI FILMS.

SINGAPORE: Meningitis robbed her of her hearing and her sight when she was in her early teens, leaving her to live in a dark and silent world for nearly 60 years.

Now, Theresa Chan Poh Lin, Singapore's Helen Keller, is battling another foe - cancer.