KUALA PILAH, May 16 — Being paralysed and having to use a motorised wheelchair for mobility has not stopped Rosli Hamid from sending and picking up his three children from school.
The 46-year-old became paralysed after a motorcycle accident on his way back from work in Kajang to his home in Kuala Pilah in 2010.
The security guard rode into a pothole and suffered a spinal injury that left him in hospital for two months.
Every morning, Rosli can be seen along the Kuala Pilah road sending his children to SK Yamtuan Hitam in Tanjung Ipoh. Around1pm, he fetches them home to Kampung Air Itam about 1pm.
With daughter Najwa Shazrin, five, who is attending kindergarten on his lap; Najwa Awatif, six, standing at the back of the wheelchair and Najma Izzati, nine, tagging along.
“It started three years ago when I had to send my oldest daughter to Standard One and then this year, the three of them,” said Rosli, who performs his duty rain or shine.
“Most of their schoolmates go to school by bicycle, motorcycle or by car, and some would walk.
“Although my house is just 1km away, the children are small and with heavy traffic on the main road, I cannot risk letting them go to school on their own.”
Rosli, who is separated from his wife who lives in Seremban, said he had to do his fatherly duties and did not want his handicap to stop him.
“I was using the manual wheelchair until I got this motorised wheelchair early this year.”
Asked how she felt about her father sending them to school on his wheelchair, Najwa Awatif said: “Best! Abah sayang kami (Dad loves us).”
Born in Kedah, Rosli moved to Kuala Pilah when he was nine and attented the same school as his children.
“Everything was well until the mishap. But I have to thank my former employers, Win Guards, who assisted me in getting compensation from Sosco, where I get RM500 a month. They also gave me RM1,000 when I met with the accident and paid me three months’ salary for my termination,” said Rosli who earns RM1,000 a month.
Rosli gets another RM300 from the Welfare Department and tries his best to make ends meet.
“My 77-year-old mother, who stays with me, helps to look after the children,” said Rosli, who pays RM160 a month to rent a house.
“I handed an application for a house to Sri Menanti assemblyman Datuk Abd Samad Ibrahim. But it has been close to two years and I have not heard from him.
“I am grateful for whatever assistance I am getting but I could do with a little bit more help, especially for my children who are being brought up in hardship. We had a television in the house but it is spoilt and we have no money to repair it.
“Whether I will get any additional help, nothing is going to stop me from giving the best I can to my children.”
Rosli’s story first appeared on Facebook when lawyer Jason Wee spotted him last week.
“I couldn’t help being curious on seeing a man in a wheelchair on a scorching day strolling along the roadside with a little girl sitting on his lap,” Jason had posted.
“So I stopped my car and greeted him. He smiled back and said he was sending his daughter to school.
“I came to realise how life is so fragile and short. I need to learn how to appreciate more, even the smallest things in life. We all do.”
