In February, Salimah Mohd Ayoob received an urgent call about a terminally ill patient at the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
Salimah is deputy director of nursing at the hospital. But this was not a work call. This was related to her befriender work at Fitrah, a programme by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore that supports inmates, ex-offenders and their families.
It was a plea for help from the patient’s husband, who was in a halfway house at that time. His wife had advanced cancer. A tumour obstructed her throat, requiring a tube to assist with breathing. She could not even form full sentences.
As she was in a stable condition, she was due to be discharged the next day for home-based palliative care. But she needed a wheelchair to move around easily, as well as a hospital bed so that she could rest in a semi-raised position to ease her breathing difficulties.
Social workers helped apply for these, but the homecare equipment would not arrive in time for her discharge.
The man was distraught. He appealed to Fitrah, and as a volunteer, Salimah helped to follow up on the homecare equipment, ensured that the woman’s children knew how to care for her, assisted the family financially through Fitrah’s help, and provided a listening ear.
Two months later, this patient passed away from her illness.
EXTENDING A HAND AND A LISTENING EAR
Salimah is a 61-year-old befriender. A nurse for 44 years, she has dedicated her life to caring for hospital patients on their journey to recovery. But when off-duty, she cares for people on a different sort of recovery journey – offenders and their families.
“I think all of them deserve a second chance,” she said.
Over the past five years, Salimah has befriended close to 10 women, including the wives and mothers of inmates, and one ex-offender. She recently received the Long Service Award (5 Years) at the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) Volunteer Awards Ceremony 2024.