KUCHING — When a helicopter crashed just 200 metres from her home in Long Lellang, Renai Iwat was not only confronted with the trauma of losing a vital link to medical care, but also another race against time.

The dialysis patient, who requires treatment three times a week, needed to return to Miri after the Long Lellang STOLport was closed following Tuesday’s tragic helicopter crash that claimed the lives of four medical personnel and a pilot.

Amid the grief and uncertainty, her family turned to the authorities for help.

Renai was eventually airlifted from Long Lellang to Miri Hospital on Thursday (Sept 10) by a Bomba helicopter, allowing her to resume the treatment on which she depends.

A family member who wished to remain anonymous said the family would remain deeply grateful to Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) Datuk Gerawat Gala, Miri Division Resident Tuan Galong Luang and Bomba for making the evacuation possible.

She said Gerawat had personally raised the urgency of bringing Renai back to Miri because of her dialysis schedule and had insisted that arrangements be made for her evacuation.

“Although we are deeply saddened by the loss of the four medical personnel and pilot in the tragic helicopter incident, Renai’s case shows how important the Flying Doctor Service is to our rural communities,” she told The Borneo Post when contacted.