Do you know something, as per the ANNUAL ROAD TRAFFIC SITUATION by the Singapore Police Force there was a drop-in the road accident from 8022 in 2012 to 7598 in 2013 which is a decrease of 424 injured cases? But unfortunately, there was an increase to 8277 in 2016, which was an increase of 679 casualties since 2013. That is a lot!
Howdy everyone. I hope your road to success is progressing and a fulfilling one. The last time you read about the hero Gani who despite his disability strived to be independent. Now I am going to illustrate the story about Thiru the warrior who pulled it off and still striving for success despite a MAJOR road accident.
Thiruchelvam aka Thiru, was a very active, energetic, easy-going type of guy (still is one). He puts in the best effort in everything he does. He consistently manages matters well and is a very committed man both in personal and social life
Primary school life
His life story began in Griffiths Primary School the school. That was the peak period in the Singapore’s soccer history. And at the same time, he too got so involved in soccer that his passion for it began. He gradually achieved top in soccer and even in other sports too.
Despite all that he never gave up in his studies and always excel well in it. He always to or had to prove people who doubted his academic path, wrong. He eventually cleared his PSLE (final and determining examination for secondary school) and got a spot in the express stream.
Secondary school life
After which his life in Secondary school began. According to Thiru that was his life learning phase. He met a lot of friends from all walks of life who directly and indirectly thought him on the principles of life and the time for him to venture around out of his comfort zone of Tampines. Not only that, it was the time where Thiru did a heroic job which got him praises in the “Newpaper” (a Singapore newspaper).
This happened when Thiru was around 14 years young. He was playing a game of soccer with his friends at his local basketball court. When a Malay man came nearby and was looking suspiciously at the playground and started disturbing the children there.
He then when towards the spot where Thiru and his friends were playing soccer. He wanted to join them but was denied from joining them at that moment. He then started shouting and took out a “parang” (a machete used by the malays of the past) and started threatening Thiru and his friends.
Thiru who was standing somewhere at the back of the Malay man, with a swift decision immediately jumped at the Malay man and grapple his arm with a chicken grip. In a second, all his other friends ran towards the Malay man to pin him down. Immediately the Police was cal
led in and the Malay man was arrested.
It was later found out that they actually caught a wanted kidnapper. What else, Thiru was then labelled as the hero of the Singapore’s newspaper the ‘Newpaper’. After that incident the well praised Thiru completed his O-level and went forth to ITE, the next phase of his life.
ITE life
Thiru had a choice of going to a local polythecnic, but as it was far away from where he lived instead he chose to take up ITC (Industry Training Certificate) as an electrical engineer in Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Tampines. It was the time of his life where as an individual he was gradually having independence to live in this world, nevertheless he kept his motto of “Keep the positive and throw the negative away”.
Life for Thiru in ITE was as per normal, with good academic stand and lessons to learn from. Furthermore, the school he was in was drug infested (you can even see a guy going into the toilet steady but coming out unsteady). Not only that there were few syringe lying around in there. But fortunately for Thiru, he was a very pious man in his religion which disciplined his thoughts from lurking away to these harmful things.
Army life
Next like most boys in Singapore at the age above 18 Thiru too moved in to life in NS (National Service). He got the vocation of Army where he was there for about 2 ½ years. It is said by a few that Army was the place which changes you from a boy to a man and some say it is a place which will bring you more discipline.
Whatever it is, Thiru had a lot of learning lesson there and grew his leadership quality. He even got a few promotions because of those qualities and was appointed as a bunk and platoon IC (in charge).
Everything when smooth and fun for Thiru until a break which was given before the next phase of the Army life for everyone. It was a day of strong emotions and unfortunate happenings.
Thiru and 3 other friends were sitting under the block having a couple of alcoholic drinks and consoling a sad friend.
When in a distance away came a drunkard man, walking with a unsteady gait and a Chinese wine in his hand. He suddenly approached towards the table, which did not bother Thiru and his friends much. The next moment (I do not know why) he swept the table of alcoholic drinks and etc to the floor. Thiru and his friends were stunned, looking at each other.
One of Thiru’s friend immediately got on top of the table and shouted at the drunk man who swiped the table. The drank man instead of apologizing or walking away, immediately pushed the friend on the table causing him to topple and have a hard fall on the ground. This angered the rest, and the rest was HISTORY!
Next police came and arrested all of them. When brought to the court they found out that the drunk guy was a 3 times divorcee and a drug trafficker.
No matter what, Thiru and friends were charged for rioting and sentenced to 2 years in jail.
But this unfortunate incident did not stop Thiru he continued his NS after and represented in various sports for them with trophies and medals before the ORD (Operationally Ready Date). That was when he met his now life partner Ramya through Thiru’s sister which is her friend. They formed an interest on each other which led them to be together.
Working life
According to Ramya, “I always motivated him to be more responsible and urged him to help the family although he was already very good at it”.
It was the time of his life where Thiru’s Dad passed away. His turning point. He and his family were devastated. Most of the family responsibilities fall on Thiru, hence he when out to find the right job for himself.
After a few jobs which was not exactly what he wanted, he found a job as a fault management center officer in Changi airport. He was recognized for his hard work and dedication for the team and was promoted gradually to an Associate Engineer where he was a in charge. It was a great achievement for him.
The phase of sweet & sour
At 27 years young a proposal for marriage occurred with the agreement of both Thiru and Ramya families. Soon after their sweet marriage they had their 1st baby girl He was a very caring and a doting father. Always goes on to feed and shower his baby. Subsequently, the second girl was born. But before he could see his last son’s birth something unfortunate occurred.
First child, the daughter
Second daughter
On April 24 2013, Thiru was going to work in his motorbike in the express road along Loyang way at around 8am. Suddenly a taxi driver swerve to his lane and hit the front left of his bike. That sent him flying somewhere on the side of the road and BLANK! Yes, Thiru lost consciousness on the spot.
Next he found himself in Changi hospital after being in coma for 1 month with a brain surgery and transferred to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for another 3 months for a neck surgery. It was around then that he got back his consciousness. *Fortunately he survived, but by will-power of course*. After that unfortunate and life changing incident , Thiru was transferred to Thye Hua Kwan rehabilitation hospital for a stay in rehab. His rehabilitation there lasted for about 4 months, July to October.
Last child, the son
After which he got the chance to go back to that cosy cover of his home sweet home. Throughout that period he was in a wheelchair and an adult diaper. It was the time where he had to depend on everyone at home.
He even had to wait for his wife to be back home from work to change his soggy diapers for almost the whole day at times (imagine how uncomfortable he would have felt). This when on for almost 3 months, until he was serving Serving People with Disability (SPD) in Tampines for a more advance therapy which was three days a week. It was during that time where he got a caregiver from NTUC Health Care@home who brought him for jogging and gym-ing. All this helped him a lot for his recovery.
He did not stop there and pushed on by going on for another Ayurvedic (one of the world’s oldest medical systems, originated in India) therapy at Kerala on 2016, which was situated at South India on the Malabar Coast. He stayed there for about 1 month and was back to Singapore with some improvements. Improvement. He returned with few ideas on what else he can do for his recovery and some medications to continue his treatment regime at home.
After that improvement another sweet opportunity awaited him. Thiru was then called back by his ex company in Changi Airport as a Fault Management Center (FMC) officer.
He did put in much effort for the job and managed to stay disciplined. He experience new growing pains on his neck and back from the long office hours sitting down at his desk. But after for about 5 months he thanked his boss and colleagues for the job and had to leave as the job was deterring Thiru from his recovery.
But before leaving his boss told him “Do not worry, you go ahead to concentrate on your recovery and be back with a full force, this platform will always be kept open for you”. This motivated Thiru to continue his journey of recovery once again.
His wife, Ramya says “We went thru a lot of hurdles together and we are still going through. Life goes on. But he is truly a warrior in all aspects”.
Thiru is keeping faith on his road to recovery and knows one day he will be back to normality. He tries to be very independent but the pain does tire him at times.
He keeps the motto of “if there is a will, there is a way”.
The message that Thiru wants to share to those who are going through difficulty is “those who are going through hardships in life stay strong, don’t give up, get up and persist towards your goal, success will be yours”.
Thiru: “My road to recovery is better than before, and will be even better ahead!”.
Yeah!! SUCH POSITIVITY!! If he can do it you can do it too. Never back down from your problems and keep moving forward. Life Goes On?
==> Click this link to watch the video of Thiru in Youtube <==
