Climbing the stairs is no easy feat in itself.
But doing so with a person on your back?
Utter pain.
Unfortunately for a certain someone, it was a necessary evil when the lifts at his HDB estate broke down.
Son Carries 75YO Father to House on 19th Floor After HDB Lift Breakdown; 2 Lifts Broke Down for Nearly 6 Hrs
According to Lianhe Wanbao, the breakdown of the only two lifts at a a HDB along Block 196 Kim Keat Avenue soon transitioned to a trapped nightmare for many vulnerable elderly folks, and a sweat-inducing session for one particular male known only as “Shen”.
After all, you can’t carry your 75-year-old father up four flights of stairs without breaking a sweat.
According to the news report, one lift had broken down on 9 April 2021. The other was subjected to the same demise the following day, when it got stuck between the floors of 12 and 13.
To make it worse? Someone was trapped along with it.
On 11 April, 39-year-old Shen recounted the mortifying incident, wherein his 75-year-old father was trapped within the confines of a malfunctioning lift.
Apparently, he had gone off to park his car, leaving his dad to take the elevator up to their 19th floor apartment alone.
Unfortunately, the only in-service lift at the time ended up getting stuck between the 12th and 13th floors.
Shen said, “I was so shocked and worried, as my dad has a history of heart disease. I was worried he would develop breathing difficulties and sustain a heart attack while trapped in the lift.”
Despite dialing for help instantly, it took 30 whole minutes before his father could be extracted from the lift.
By then, his dad was reportedly in a shaken and sweaty state. And things didn’t just end there.
Slapped in the face with the unenviable task of getting to their 19th-floor unit by staircase, their endeavour soon came to a crippling halt when Shen’s father stopped moving.
“We continued back home via the stairs, but after just two flights of stairs, my dad started breathing very heavily and was completely not able to move.”
Thankfully, Shen was strong enough to piggyback his elderly father for the remainder of the journey.
Inconvenienced
For the record, Shen and his father were not the only ones affected.
Considering how both lifts were malfunctioning for nearly six hours, it meant the grounding of dozens of elderly folks.
In hindsight, it certainly didn’t help that the 25-storey estate housed primarily elderly residents either.
Nevertheless, one lift is said to have since restored operations.
The other, however, remains broken. Lift technicians will reportedly work on it until it’s fixed.
According to reports, the Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council has since attached notices at the elevators to convey their apologies.
They also expressed gratitude towards residents for their understanding and patience.
Not Exactly A Rarity
Thankfully, such instances aren’t exactly common.
However, they are not exactly non-existent either.
Over the last few years, several cases of malfunctioning lifts have occurred in various parts of Singapore.
In one instance, an elderly couple was trapped inside a broken lift in Yishun for quite some time.
Afflicted with high blood pressure, they soon got giddy. In fact, the man was reportedly “already panicking and very pale”.
They were eventually rescued by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
And in another instance, a student was reportedly trapped inside a lift for five hours.
Instead of crying and venting and panicking like any other 13-year-old might have, however, he chose to see the situation in a positive light.
Apparently, he wrote on a piece of paper, “Someone is inside the elevator. Please contact the building administration” and slipped it under the lift doors for rescuers to see.
Then, he sat down and pulled out his homework to while away the hours.
When firefighters arrived, he was reportedly done with his Chinese, Math, and Science assignments.
And people claim that Artemis Fowl is a fictitious entity.
Feature Image: Google Maps