she took out her shoes and placed it neatly on the floor, admiring it. her first athletics shoe, with spikes at the bottom, bright blue and yellow in colour. her first sports event after she trained so hard for numerous months. all was well and her family wished her luck for her event tomorrow and they all went to sleep.

her sister woke up in the middle of the night, around 4am, due to the commotion in the toilet. she was lying on the floor, unable to move. her parents were gathered around her, massaging her feet. she was crying and throwing up. her sister stood shocked and the parents gestured for her to pass the phone as they called for the ambulance. standing outside the toilet, wide-eyed, her sister remained stunned. the paramedics arrived shortly after, put her on the stretcher and left. her sister then went to school, thinking everything would be fine. it may just be a sprain on the ankle, nothing worrysome. except that she missed the sports event held that day at bishan stadium.

she fell into a coma of probably three to four days due to a blood clot found in her brain. she remained in critical condition with her parents at her bed side 24 hours. they were drained of their energy. looking on in despair, there was nothing they could do but pray and her sister didn't know what she could do to help, a burden too heavy for her to shoulder, except to be independent alone at home. she was in sec1 then.

then she stirred. she regained consciousness. her sister visited her for the first time after they talked on the phone the previous day. because of the blood clot, she could not do much. only whisper. she couldn't move the right side of her body at all. her sister cried when she saw her. so feeble and weak. lying on the bed of the ICU, trying so hard to smile when she didn't feel like doing so. putting on a brave front for her family members. her sister tried hard not to cry in front of her but to no avail. she ended the conversation between them quickly, and cried outside the ward. she did not know what would happen in the future. it was bleak, unclear.

scans after scans, and operations after operations. all went well and she undergo months of physiotherapy to regain control and movement of the right side of her body, due to the blood clot being in the left brain, which subsequently affects the movement on the right. there were times when she broke down in frustration. there were setbacks. obstacles after obstacles. she went through all. although she couldn't play sports well, nor walk normally, due to an unobvious limp in her right foot, she showed tremendous courage all this while and her sister thanked her for that. she showed her sister the meaning of standing up after a fall. the true meaning of perseverance. the importance of kinship and to treasure your family members and friends because you would not know what would happen the next day. express your emotions before you ever regret it.












i would try NEVER to quarrel with my sister ever again.