To help Mr Chan recover his mobility, the hospital recommends that he undergoes physiotherapy for at least six months. His family is racing against time to raise $156,481.50 for him to start physiotherapy sessions that will cost $20,000 per month. The balance of $36,481.50 will cover Mr Chan’s current hospital bills.

Our caseworkers have verified the story and documents provided by Mr Chan’s family members. Please donate to give the 74 year-old a chance at life.

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My dad, Chan Chuan Lee (74 years-old), was a significant contributor to society, being an emergency on-call doctor for over 45 years in Malaysia. He saved thousands of lives throughout his career as a medical doctor and cared deeply for his patients. Now that he needs help, we hope that society can give him a chance at life.

After struggling with poor gait for years, Dad was diagnosed with late stage Parkinson’s disease in 2013. Then came the diagnosis of Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum disorder (NMO), with right thoracic longitudinal extensive transverse myelitis in September 2021. During his time in hospital, the doctors also discovered and treated a blood infection. The attending neurologist commented that this was the first ever case that he’d seen of a patient with 2 significant, concurrent neurological diseases. The neurologist also commented that if there the NMO were to relapse, it would be so detrimental that my dad would most likely be completely paralyzed from the neck down.

As a result of Dad’s illnesses, he is immobile and has limited movement in his upper limbs. Throughout the years, our family has noticed a drastic decline in his movements. Before both his legs became paralyzed, he had uncontrolled bowel and urine movements in his room, living room and the kitchen. My mother (who is now 69 years old), was his primary caregiver and was exhausted from sanitizing the house every time an incidents occured.

In 2021, his bath time increased to 2.5 hours, because he did not have enough strength to bathe himself nor to enter the bathroom on his own. Living in very small HDB flat with 5 family members, we were unable to hire a helper as there was no spare room. Dad also has speech and hearing impairments as a result of advanced stage Parkinson’s disease. We often carry him when he falls or when he needs help getting up and lying down. Most of the time, we are unable to be his 24-hour caregiver as we are at work.

At times I would be injured from carrying Dad, as he is extremely heavy for my small frame. My mother is his main caregiver, but she has multiple health conditions including hypertension, kidney, eyes, bone and spinal problems, which were exacerbated during these months of caring for him. My mother is due for knee-cap replacement and cataract surgeries at the end of this year. Yet she constantly worries for my dad and refuses to attend to her own medical needs.

Because my dad is not a Permanent Resident of Singapore, his medical bills as a Malaysian are extremely hefty for our family. The rest of the family members are true-blue Singaporeans as our mum was born in Singapore in 1952. Our family’s savings have been spent on saving our dad and preventing another relapse which would incapacitate him further.

Dad has just completed part of his treatment at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He now resides in a nursing home for a fee of $1,865 each month. He makes frequent visits to Tan Tock Seng Hospital to continue his treatment. With prolonged medical and nursing home care required, we expect his bills to exceed $200k soon, depending on how his health progresses. Given his extensive immobility with two neurological diseases, he will need an ergonomic bed if he becomes well enough to return home. This is estimated to cost around $1.6k, as shared by the hospital staff.

We have approached our Member of Parliament to appeal to the Immigration authorities for my dad’s permanent residency to be approved, but to no avail. His PR applications have been rejected multiple times, which is a huge disappointment because he is married to a Singaporean wife and the rest of his family are Singaporeans as well. We are also worried that our dad might need to go back to Malaysia in his incapacitated state one day, with no one there to care for him.

Our family has put in as much effort as we can, physically and financially, but Dad’s medical bills seem endless. Please help us give Dad some hope to recover and prevent a relapse.

Any amount is deeply appreciated. On behalf of my whole family, we would like to say a big thank you.