MR MOHAMMAD Ali could barely walk, yet he insisted on bearing his wife's body all the way to her grave.
The 38-year-old motorcyclist was involved in an accident which left his 25-year-old wife, Ms Norazirah Ajis, dead and him with severe abrasions on his arms and an injured right foot.
Though still hurt, he requested an early discharge from hospital so he could attend her funeral yesterday, still wearing the hospital-issued shirt over a pair of jeans.
On Monday afternoon, the couple were travelling from their home in Yew Tee to visit Mr Mohammad's mother in Clementi when their motorcycle was struck from behind by a car.
Ms Norazirah was run over by the car after the collision, which happened on the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE), near the Corporation Road exit.
The driver of the car, a man in his late 50s, has been arrested for drink driving.
It was the third fatal motorcycle accident to occur in two days. All of them were on the PIE.
On Sunday, at around 3pm, Mr Mustaffa Nordin, 25, skidded as he tried to negotiate a bend along the expressway.
He collided with the side rails and died later from severe injuries.
Then, in the early hours of Monday, 19-year-old Yau Si Hui died when the motorcycle she was riding pillion on was hit by a swerving car.
The teenager, who worked as a sales assistant, was said to enjoy going out on motorcycle rides with her friends.
According to the Traffic Police, fatalities involving motorcyclists and pillion riders rose by 19.6 per cent, from 46 between January and June last year to 55 in the same period this year. Motorcycle fatalities also made up 47 per cent of all road fatalities in the last two years.
Yesterday, more than 50 family members and colleagues from publisher McGraw-Hill, where Ms Norazirah worked as a customer service officer, gathered at her funeral. The couple would have celebrated their second wedding anniversary in December.
Supported by a crutch and family members, her husband cut a stoic figure at the funeral, as he lingered at her grave long after the crowd had dispersed.
Clearly angry, Ms Norazirah's 49-year-old uncle said: 'It's fine if you drink and hurt yourself. But if you hit someone who is innocent, it's the family who is left to cope with the loss.'
