BATU PAHAT – A mother's journey to pick up her child from school is usually an ordinary routine, filled with relief and love.
But for Asmilah Tukiran, 37, that midday moment turned into a nightmare she cannot erase from her memory.
"I was only a few minutes late before I saw my child lying unconscious," she shared.
That heartbreaking words described the moment her heart shattered upon losing her beloved daughter, Nur Aini Umairah Mohd Fareez, 8, who died after being struck by a van in front of the gate of Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Maimon, Parit Sulong, Batu Pahat.
Asmilah said the brief delay was caused by her responsibility of attending to her youngest child, Ahmad Sufi Mohd Fareez, 5, who had just returned from preschool at around 12.30pm.
As was her habit, she first bathed and changed the little one's clothes before heading out again to pick up her second child about 10 minutes later.
But the moment she arrived in front of the school, the scene before her was nothing like any ordinary day.
"When I arrived at the school gate, I saw a crowd gathered. At that moment, my heart was wondering who they had surrounded.
"I heard another pupil speaking and mentioning the name 'Aini'. I immediately went to find a teacher to ask who was lying motionless there.
"When the teacher told me that the pupil was my own child, my body went weak. I could not bring myself to look at the body because the condition was very severe," she said, her voice breaking.
She added that she had never once forgotten to remind the late child to wait for her inside the school compound every time school ended.
"Usually, Aini would only come out through the school gate once I had already arrived.
"But at the time of the incident, I don't know why she was outside the gate… perhaps she wanted to buy something," she added.
What makes the tragedy even more heartbreaking is that this is not the first loss this woman has had to bear.
Asmilah admitted she was still in the process of healing from an old wound when she was once again tested with the departure of a loved one.
"The grief from January last year has not yet healed. My mother, Saonah Kasmi, 58, passed away two hours after my grandmother, Bayah Sadiran, 84, breathed her last.
"At the time, my mother had come to pay her respects to my grandmother's body at 6.45pm, before she followed about two hours later.
"Imagine, two beloved souls leaving within two hours of each other… and today, I am tested once again.
"This is the trial I am going through. But I must find the strength so that my children can continue with their lives in the future," she said. — Sinarplus