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Elderly man suffers stroke during trip to JB, spends 17 days in hospital before returning to S’pore for treatment
Seven months after losing their mother to cancer, two sisters decided to take their 89-year-old father on a short getaway to Johor Bahru (JB) to help him relax. But the trip turned into a nightmare when he suddenly suffered a stroke and was hospitalised in Malaysia. After 17 days, he was finally transported back to Singapore for further treatment.
The man’s daughter, Aileen Koh, shared their story on local crowdfunding platform Give Asia to raise funds for their rising medical expenses.
According to Koh, the trip began on 27 June 2025. The next morning, her father woke up with stiffness in his limbs and a drooping mouth. He was rushed to a local hospital, where doctors confirmed he had suffered a severe acute ischemic stroke that affected the entire left side of his body.
Due to his pre-existing condition of high blood pressure, his travel insurance could not cover the medical bills, leaving the family to bear the full cost of his hospitalisation.
“We haven’t even recovered from our mother’s passing from colorectal cancer just seven months ago. We used up all our savings for her six-month-long treatment and surgeries. Now, our father has suffered a stroke and we’re back in a crisis again,” Koh wrote.
Koh also revealed that she has been a full-time caregiver to her elderly parents for years and has had no income. Her sister and brother-in-law are the only breadwinners. Her father’s sudden stroke pushed the family to their limits.
To cope with the financial burden, they started a fundraising campaign to cover both the Malaysian hospital bills and future costs for his care back in Singapore. At the time of writing, they have raised $72,671, which is more than their goal of $72,000.
On 16 July, Koh posted an update on the campaign page. She shared that her father was safely transferred back to Singapore via a cross-border ambulance on 15 July and is now being treated at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
“The stroke left him completely paralysed on the left side. He can’t speak or swallow and is now fully dependent on a feeding tube, which makes him extremely uncomfortable and agitated,” Koh wrote.
Their current goal is to help him recover his ability to swallow so he can be free of the feeding tube.
She ended her update by thanking everyone who had shown them kindness and support during this difficult period.
