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SINGAPORE: Lim Wai Sian's family has only one wish this Lunar New Year.
Dad Lim Lai What, mum Tan Lai Ngoh and elder brother Lim Peng Thian want the basketball player to spend the holidays at home in Yishun.
Right now, that seems unlikely, as the Singapore Slingers forward, a final-year electrical and electronic engineering student at Singapore Polytechnic, remains in the intensive care unit (ICU) at the National University Hospital (NUH) under an induced coma.
The 21-year-old fell during a training session at the Tanglin Trust School on Friday, two days ahead of the Slingers' crucial semi-final Game 3 clash against Indonesia's Satria Muda BritAma in the Asean Basketball League, which they lost 86-76.
Lim hit his head against the floor, and while he appeared fine at first, he subsequently complained of a headache and blurry vision, before vomiting.
Team-mate and medical student Marcus Ng attended to him, and he was subsequently sent to Alexandra Hospital by ambulance. He was then transferred to NUH to undergo surgery for a blood clot in his brain on Friday night.
Speaking to MediaCorp at NUH on Monday, brother Peng Thian, 26, said: "My mum is hoping he'll wake up and go home for Chinese New Year, but we're going to spend it here with him as doctors say he is likely to be in hospital for two to three weeks.
"They've just finished the CT Scan and it's clean, so we're waiting for the brain surgeon to see if they can remove the breathing tube. He's improved the last few days, and his rate of movement is increasing."
Some 20 family members and friends were keeping vigil outside the hospital's ICU on Monday, including Wai Sian's father.
The 52-year-old lorry driver could not stop the tears from flowing as he watched the nurses wheel his youngest son out for his CT Scan.
"He's loved sports since he was young," he said. "It's so upsetting for a parent to see your child like this. I just hope he wakes up and recovers." Doctors are not certain if the injury will affect Lim's mental and physical capabilities.
The former ITE College West student was gunning for his polytechnic's Sportsman Award to help in his university application.
"He loves basketball very much," said Peng Thian, a research officer at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research. "His movement could be affected after the surgery. That will upset him, but we hope he will get well soon and continue training."
Slingers general manager Michael Johnson gave the assurance that the club would foot Lim's medical bills. Belinda Au Yong of Fly Entertainment, the Slingers' representatives, told MediaCorp: "We have no confirmed details to release with regard to insurance details ... we don't know the prognosis from doctors yet, and expect to find out in a few days' time."
Slingers team-mate Hong Wei Jian has known Lim since their days playing basketball in their Yishun neighbourhood.
He said: "Before our match against Satria Muda, we were all thinking of him, and we missed his jokes ... it was definitely sad for me especially when I was pushing him into the operating theatre, but I want him to get well soon." - TODAY
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