Girl quits school to care for brother

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KUCHING: Sabar Senun, 56, and Masiah Marup, 52, find it difficult to accept that their son Mohd Azwan Sabar, 20, is permanently disabled after he was attacked by a man last year.

Masiah feeding Azwan while other family members look on.

Azwan depends on Nursawalia to move around the house. She also accompanies him to hospital for his treatment and therapy sessions.

When doctors informed them that they had to remove part of their son’s skull to save him, it was the darkest day of their lives.

“He was always a filial and hardworking son and until today, we cannot accept that he will be disabled for the rest of his life,” said his distraught mother Masiah when met at their home in Kampung Sri Arjuna, Jalan Puncak Borneo recently.

She said Azwan was a responsible son and had been working since he left school after Sijil Peperiksaan Malaysia (SPM). The 20-year-old requires full-time care so his younger sister Nursawalia Sabar, 17, made the ultimate sacrifice by quitting school to care for him.

“We cannot depend on our other children who already have their own families. There is nothing we can do as both of us (Masiah and husband) are not strong enough to help him move around the house, or carry him to the toilet to ease himself,” said Masiah, who has 11 children.

Love for her family prompted Nursawalia to drop out of school to help her parents care for her brother.

“But if given the opportunity, I would love to continue my studies and sit for the SPM this year. But it’s okay, family comes first,” she said.

Masiah, a housewife, said the family was in financial straits after her son became disabled as her husband’s income could hardly make ends meet, let alone purchase adult diapers for Azwan.

“Azwan uses up to two packs of adult diapers containing 10 pieces each, every three days.

“The income my husband receives is on daily basis; it is not enough for our whole family,” she said.

Though Masiah receives monthly assistance of RM300 from the state Welfare Department, the financial aid is mostly used to send Azwan to Sarawak General Hospital for treatment and therapy sessions.

The wheelchair he is using is on loan from a relative and may have to be returned soon, so she appeals to the public to donate a wheelchair for Azwan to be brought around.