'Adib made tugging motion when asked if he was pulled during riot'

INQUEST | Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim made a tugging motion on his left shoulder when asked if he was "pulled" (kena tarik) on the night of the Seafield Seri Maha Mariamman temple riot, according to a medical officer.

National Heart Institute surgical assistant Mohammad Ashraf Baruji, 27, said he received the response from the late firefighter after a nightly physiotherapy session, sometime between Dec 10 and 12.

"As I was preparing him for bed, I asked him a question, 'Do you remember what happened?' At first, Adib shook his head.

"Then I told him, 'It's okay. If you feel like sharing, just let me know'," said Ashraf, the 16th witness in the inquest to determine Adib's cause of death.

"When I turned my back to leave, Adib tugged at my sleeve. He nodded and made a sign that he wanted to write.

"I passed him the whiteboard. I asked Adib, 'Were you pulled? (Adib kena tarik ke?)' And he replied by raising his left hand to his left shoulder and made several tugging motions."

Ashraf said he also asked Adib if he fell, to which he said the firefighter only shook his head, before raising his left hand and turning his wrist several times.

The surgical assistant was responding to questions from inquest conducting officer Hamdan Hamzah.

Ashraf said his last question to Adib that night – before the latter started to appear restless – was on whether he was aware of his location at the time.

"Adib pointed his index finger downwards," he said, adding that he took it as a sign that the firefighter knew he was at the hospital.

'Sedated but alert'

Ashraf described Adib's general condition at the time as being sedated but alert, and able to comprehend his questions. 

He said the firefighter communicated using physical gestures, as well as by writing on a small whiteboard. 

Ashraf recalled that Adib had on several occasions written the names of his parents and fiancée to indicate that he wanted to see them.

The inquest before coroner Rofiah Mohamad briefly stood down when he teared up as he recalled Adib's unfulfilled request to drink fruit juice.

"He wrote that he wanted to drink fruit juice, so I told him, 'Adib get well soon. I will be the first person to go down and buy fruit juice for Adib'," he said.

After Adib's death, Ashraf said he visited the firefighter's family in Kedah and his grave to find "closure" after their days together at IJN.

Ashraf was part of IJN's Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) team that was in charge of Adib until his death on Dec 17.

IJN senior consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Mohamed Ezani Md Taib, who headed the ECMO team, told the inquest yesterday that Ashraf only informed him of the interactions with Adib about a week after the firefighter's death.

Quizzed on the reason for this, Ashraf said he initially kept the interactions to himself out of respect for the confidentiality between patients and healthcare providers.

However, he gave no further reasons as to why he later informed Ezani of the interactions.

The inquest previously heard how Adib remained critically ill throughout his stay at IJN, but had shown signs of progress from the third day.

His condition was said to have rapidly deteriorated on day 14, and he was once again put under heavy sedation.

The inquest goes into its 11th day at the Shah Alam Coroner's Court tomorrow. - Mkini