The thought that life can come to an end at any moment is a heavy truth to accept.
On the morning of 8 June 2024, a 19-year-old girl named Dorothy Naomi Tan died after being hit by a vehicle on Joo Chiat Road.
The accident occurred outside the i12 Katong shopping centre, with the deceased’s mother, Ms Tan, believing her daughter was returning from her morning exercise.
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, Ms Tan said that Dorothy had just graduated from Raffles Institution last year.
She had accepted an offer from the School of Law at Singapore Management University (SMU), with the school year to start just next month on 19 August. Ms Tan said that Dorothy wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a lawyer.
Passers-By Rushed to Help at Joo Chiat Road Accident
A netizen on Xiaohongshu alleged to have seen CCTV footage of the accident, which showed a fast-moving van crashing into Dorothy and sending her flying ten metres away.
After the collision, over ten passers-by rushed to the scene. They formed a human wall around Dorothy to prevent other vehicles from running her over.
People from a nearby clinic rushed to check on her, and a young woman stayed by her side the whole time, trying to contact her family members through her mobile phone.
An interviewed employee at the shopping mall said that there was little blood at the scene and that her hand appeared to move when the ambulance arrived. As such, he assumed she would be okay.
Unfortunately, doctors pronounced Dorothy dead at the hospital hours later. Her family received the news from the hospital while on holiday in Beijing and rushed back immediately.
Following her passing, the Tan family posted numerous flyers at Joo Chiat Road, appealing for witnesses to come forward to the police.
They also hoped to find those on-scene through the flyers to personally thank them for helping Dorothy.
A police signboard appealing for witnesses was also at the scene. Three bouquets of flowers were laid at its base in memory of the deceased.
The family held her funeral on 11 June, with Ms Tan writing “See you next time, my beloved daughter, Dorothy Naomi Tan” in a Facebook post.
The 24-year-old van driver is currently assisting police in their investigation.
Ms Tan told Shin Min Daily News that she believed the driver had no intentions of causing harm.
“We believe the driver has been greatly affected by this situation. If he has to take responsibility for the accident, we also wish to tell him that we forgive him.”
She said that since the family did not know the full story, they would accept the judgment of the authorities and hoped they could get all the info they needed.
The owner of a laundromat close to the scene alleged that other accidents had happened on this stretch of Joo Chiat Road.
She hoped that the authorities could add road humps or other measures to slow down traffic in the area.
The Shin Min reporter visiting the scene also noted the lack of traffic lights and zebra crossings nearby despite the high volume of vehicles on the road.
The Joo Chiat area was also the site of a road rage street fight that broke out in February 2023.
