Pothole accident leaves man disfigured for life

Muhamad Aizat Onn is left with unspeakable facial scars that are permanent, forcing him to wear a mask at times in order to avert rude stares.

PETALING JAYA: To many Malaysian motorists, potholes are an every day nuisance they bear without a shrug while on the road.

For Muhamad Aizat Onn however, it is something that has scarred him for life – literally and figuratively.

Speaking to FMT, Muhamad Aizat related how a pothole he did not avoid left him with nasty facial scars that he wears to this day.

He said the accident happened on a rainy day, a year ago in Subang Jaya, as he was riding his motorcycle to work.

He was only about a kilometre away from his workplace in Persiaran Subang Damai when he rode into a pothole thinking it was a shallow puddle of water on the road’s surface.

“I saw what I thought was a harmless puddle so it didn’t occur to me that I should avoid it.

“It turned out to be a massive pothole instead and I fell head first into it,” he related.

The visor of the crash helmet Muhamad Aizat was wearing broke on impact and pieces of it cut deep into the 25-year-old’s face.

Apart from that, he also suffered eight broken teeth. His lips are permanently disfigured and now sit lopsided on his face after being cut and smashed against the road.

Doctors have told him his face is so deeply scarred, even plastic surgery cannot fix it.

Turning to a lawyer to fight his case, Muhamad Aizat was told that the party responsible for this horrific accident, the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ), was willing to part with only RM35,000 as compensation to settle the case out of court.

He turned down the offer.

To make matters worse, Muhamad Aizat also claimed he lost his job following the accident, and could not find other employment until August this year.

“People often stare at me. To avoid that, I put on a mask whenever I leave my house.

“That too (wearing a mask) caused a lot of issues, as every time I walk into a store, store employees tail me wherever I go, thinking I am going to rob the place,” he said.

Muhamad Aizat said his main disappointment was not that MPSJ offered him such a small compensation, but that they have not taken the danger of potholes in the area seriously.

“They need to realise the dangers of un-patched potholes and start taking action instead of passing the buck to someone else.”

However the long-standing menace of potholes faced by Klang Valley folks, particularly in Selangor, may soon change, with the Selangor government’s recent directive that road contractors temporarily resurface potholes within 24-hours of receiving information or complaints from the public.