Winds blow child and cradle away
Close watch: Nurhaibah comforting Nurhasyikin at the hospital after the toddler’s terrifying ordeal.
KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia — When the winds blew in Kampung Dunggang, Tuaran, it not only rocked the cradle of 18-month old Nurhasyikin Jainuddin at her home – it took her away.
Her mother Nurhaibah Nasib, 22, said she had placed her second child as usual in a sarong hammock tied to a wooden roof beam of their house.
About 15 minutes after midnight, a sudden gust of wind roared through their simple house.
Nurhaibah said she immediately grabbed on to the hammock but before she could do anything else, the winds had blown off the roof and its wooden beams along with Nurhasyikin in the sarong.
“I just felt so helpless when I could not hold on to the sarong. In that instant, I thought I had lost my daughter forever,” she said.
Nurhaibah said she, along with her husband Jainuddin Hasim, 23, and her cousin Mohd Hasrul Sid, 14, then frantically searched for the toddler, calling for help from their neighbours.
Even their five-year-old son Mohd Jaein wanted to help in the search.
Miraculously, some half-hour later, villagers found the toddler on a muddy patch in the padi field, crying in shock from her ordeal.
With the help of a neighbour’s son, Nurhaibah and Jainuddin rushed their daughter to the Tuaran district hospital, where the toddler was found to have fractured her right thigh bone and bruised her arms and other parts of her body.
Nurhasyikin was later transferred to the Likas Children Hospital here where her parents are keeping a close watch on her.
“She cries a lot because of the pain and I cannot cradle her but at least, she is safe and alive. I thank God for that,” said Nurhaibah.
This Hari Raya, she added, would be bleak as they were not likely to repair their house in time for the celebration.
“But more importantly my family is safe,” she said.
Strong winds since late Friday had also reportedly blown off the roof of a school in Kampung Kebayau, Kota Belud, and that of another house in Kampung Papar Laut, Papar.
