FORMER Penang exco Datuk Phee Boon Poh counted his blessings after recently suffering 14 cardiac arrests.
Now being treated at the cardiac care unit, Phee, aged 72, spoke about his close shave with death with the state newsletter – Bulletin Mutiara.
“I am now stable and need as much rest as possible. I am grateful for all the well wishes that my family and I have received,” said Phee, a DAP veteran here.
Phee also revealed that he may need a pacemaker implanted to assist in his recovery.
He believes he has been given a second chance at life.
“Twice at home and 12 times at the hospital,” Phee said.
He said that he feels that he has been given a second chance because his struggle in life is not yet finished.
Phee plans to propose that the state mobilise a strong presence of first responders (emergency dispatch services) for critical medical cases.
“I want to share my experience of how crucial the arrival of a first responder was in helping treat me.”
He was fortunate to be near his daughter Phee Syn Tze, who had succeeded him as the Sungai Puyu assemblyman last year.
“Syn Tze was fast and managed to alert the first responder, who arrived in record time,” said Phee.
Earlier, he had collapsed in the bathroom but managed to stumble out to tell his daughter that he may experiencing a heart problem.
Syn Sze said that she almost lost him on that fateful day and the family are counting their blessings that Phee managed to survive the episode.
Phee has been in Penang politics for the past 35 years. In 2004, he became the sole DAP representative in the state assembly when he won the Began Jermal state seat against all odds.
Phee stood alone against the Barisan Nasional wave, as voters swung in favour of then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s leadership.
He was asked by DAP leadership to step aside last year but not before he left a legacy in terms of managing the environment, welfare and healthcare. – August 6, 2024.
