A mother’s lonely road after losing her son to Covid-19

Visits to the hospital were nothing new for Mohd Kamil Affendy Hashim who recently began experiencing problems with his eyes.

His mother, Aminah Ibrahim, was also used to her son’s frequent trips to hospitals and clinics in Kuala Lumpur in order to receive treatment.

But she had no idea when Kamil went to the hospital at the end of June that it would be his last trip.

It started out as a routine visit to the hospital but after a week of being admitted, Kamil, fondly nicknamed Eddie, learnt that he had a more serious problem at hand.

“At 3am he called me to tell me, ‘Mum, the doctor told me I have Covid,” Aminah recalled.

“The minute he said the word ‘Covid’, God only knows what my emotions were.”

Her fears were well founded – Eddie passed away a week later on July 8.

“At 3am he called me to tell me, ‘Mum, the doctor told me I have Covid.”

Aminah received the news from her daughter who phoned her to tell her that Eddie was gone.

“That morning, she called me and told me to be strong – Eddie had passed away.

“She was the one who arranged everything, even the burial,” Aminah told MalaysiaNow.

Eddie, who was certified as disabled due to his problem with his eyesight, was the only one of her children who still stayed at home with her.

Now, at 74, she lives alone.

She recalls the trips she made to the hospital to visit Eddie before he was diagnosed with Covid-19.

“He told me not to come, but I came anyway because I wanted to bring him some pizza,” she said, adding that his appetite had not been good towards the end.

“He told me not to come, but I came anyway.”

But even when he was sick, Aminah said, he still worried about her being at home by herself.

“He told me, ‘don’t do heavy work’,” she said. “‘Don’t sweep outside the house.’ He was afraid I would slip and fall into the drain.”

Aminah has good neighbours who keep an eye on her and bring her food every day. But without Eddie, life is lonely and much too quiet.

She remembers Eddie as a kind and strong son despite his disability.

Even after he was certified as disabled, she said, he never stopped trying to look for work. MalaysiaNow previously reported how Eddie had worked as a taxi driver until he began losing his eyesight.

He also kept the household finances in good order despite not having much money of his own.

“I asked the landlord if I was behind in rent,” Aminah said.

“The landlord said no, Eddie paid everything early on in the month.”

All Aminah has to remember him by now are the stray cats that he would take in.

“Near the end, he asked, ‘How are my cats? Do they have food?’ I told him not to worry. I said I had bought enough for them.”

Alone with the cats, she remembers her son’s kindness and his duty to her, and she knows she will never leave the home that they used to share.