Believe it or not..

My husband Marcus had just lost a childhood friend cum primary school classmate a few days ago.

It all started last Friday evening when his friend got home from work and decided to take a nap as he was rather tired after a hectic day at his workplace.

Before he hit the pillow, he told his only child, a young girl of 14, something like this, “Remember to wake me up at 8 p.m. no matter what happen.” It was the first time he spoke this way.

At 8 p.m. she tried to wake him up for dinner but he did not respond.

His heart was beating as usual and he was still breathing evenly but he could not open his eyes or  move his limbs anymore.

He was in a deep coma.

Nobody knows what had happened to him in his sleep. Those who knew him knew he was a healthy man in his prime.

On the afternoon of Monday 1st July, the doctor pronounced him dead. He was buried yesterday.

Life is indeed fragile. It is like a candle whose flickering flame can be blown off any minute.

However, this is not the first time I knew of someone who fell into a coma.

About 30 years ago, the elder brother of my uncle fell into a coma too. He was about 60 years old at that time and was working and staying in Singapore.

Being a bachelor without other relatives there, he stayed in a hostel with a few colleagues from Malaysia.

One day, my uncle received a telegram from a hospital in Singapore informing him that his elder brother fell into a coma and was hospitalized.

Together with his wife who was my aunt, they rushed over to the hospital in Singapore to see him. After waiting for a week at his bedside, they decided to go back to Ipoh. Nobody knows for sure whether this man will ever wake up again or not.

A day later, they received another telegram from the same hospital. The brother had just woke up and begged to be discharged immediately.

So my uncle went to Singapore to bring his elder brother home to Ipoh to recuperate. Once he reached Ipoh and stayed with us, he told us what he had gone through.

According to him, in that few days when he was in a coma, he had been to a very different place.

There, he saw many people – men, women, children and animals as well, some old, some young and a few extremely young. But he knew none of them. They were all total strangers to him.

There were buildings and trees too, just like in this world. People were busy going about with their lives.

At the gate of a large mansion, he saw a fierce-some officer who demanded to know what he was doing there, walking aimlessly and looking so lost.

“Get out of here before I bring the dogs on you!” he roared with blood-shooting eyes.

Panic-stricken, my uncle’s elder brother quickly turned and ran for his life.

That was when he suddenly opened his eyes and found the doctor and a few nurses staring down at his face…..

They were checking on him and got a fright of their lives…..

Call it a miracle if you like.

My uncle’s elder brother went on to live for another ten years or more. He eventually died in Ipoh at the age of 74 when the time is right this time!

Incredible, right?

May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes.