Doctors said she wouldn't survive but this stroke survivor is now walking again

A physiotherapist at Nasam conducting movement classes for stroke survivors. — Photos: RAJA FAISAL HISHAN/The Star

Amy Yong’s nightmare began on June 15.

The 56-year-old housewife was merrily singing while cooking dinner, when she abruptly stopped singing.

Wondering why there was suddenly no noise, her husband, Lee Kok Tai, went into the kitchen to investigate and found her slumped on the floor.

Not knowing what was happening, he tried to wake her up, but failed, so Lee called the ambulance, which rushed Yong over to Hospital Kajang, Selangor.

Yong had suffered a haemorrhagic stroke caused by burst capillaries in the brain.

“She had hypertension during her pregnancy, but that was more than 20 years ago.

“After delivery, her blood pressure was back to normal and she has never complained of any ailment since.

“Amy led a healthy, active lifestyle and loved to go line dancing, so the stroke came as a shock.

“The hospital told us her blood pressure was extremely high,” relates Lee, who has two grown children aged 30 and 26.

After three weeks at the hospital, the doctor told the couple he couldn’t help them and asked Lee to take Yong home.

Yong works tirelessly to recover because she wants to resume line dancing.

Lee was unhappy as Yong was almost in a vegetative state – she couldn’t talk or move, was on a feeding tube, and had lost most of her memory – how could he look after her?

One child was abroad, while the other was busy with work.

He says: “I called our state assemblyman and pleaded to have Amy transferred to Hospital Serdang,

“He helped us, and after a week there, the doctor told us to start her on rehabilitation.

“However, since it is a public hospital, we could only get an appointment once a month, so a friend suggested the National Stroke Association of Malaysia (Nasam).”

Thankfully, Lee, 60, had just retired as a businessman and had time on his hands.

The devoted husband became Yong’s fulltime caregiver – bathing, changing diapers, administering medications, feeding – everything fell on him.

“It was frustrating for both of us because she couldn’t express herself and I didn’t know what she was saying or wanted,” he says.

When Yong started rehabilitation at Nasam’s Petaling Jaya branch on July 7, she was in a wheelchair.

Because she couldn’t talk, the physiotherapist suggested speech therapy, in addition to movement therapy in bed.

Initially, it was a struggle as Yong could not move her left side and lacked overall strength.

But she persisted, and Lee would drive her to Petaling Jaya daily from their home in Kajang.

Yong eventually progressed from the wheelchair to crutches to walking independently, albeit slowly.

Lee jokes: “She feels like she’s in jail because she cannot go out independently and is stuck with me at home!

“Before, she would be out having fun with her friends.

“At least she can cook again using her right hand – she even made mooncakes for our neighbours last month.”

Yong’s speech still hasn’t returned, and she needs help bathing and putting on clothes, but Lee is confident she will be back on her feet soon.

“She likes to eat and uses the right hand to hold the utensils so she can do it fast!” he quips.

“That’s why the left hand is still weak because she’s not working it hard enough.”

Yong lovingly smacks her husband’s arm when he says this, but as they get up to leave after this interview, she leans on him for support.

Without Lee, her world would have crumbled further.

“We are husband and wife – for life,” she mutters as Lee helps her into the car.