At one look, patients Mr Juffri Bin Latif and Mr Albert Chan may seem to be as different as day and night. 47-year-old Mr Juffri is very proactive and likes to be independent, while 71-year-old Mr Chan prefers to take things a bit more slowly.
Who knew that they would both come together to work hand in hand to create a piece of art.
Two unfortunate strokes
Mr Juffri and Mr Chan were both admitted to Bright Vision Hospital for rehabilitation following a stroke during the same period. Mr Juffri had suffered a stroke on his right side while Mr Chan had it on his left. They were both admitted at Hope ward, and soon became good friends after hitting it off.
In the ward, our Patient Service Ambassador (PSA), Jane Lim, frequently organises activities where patients and their caregivers could participate together. The aim for these activities is to promote interaction between patients and their families, and also serve as a good platform for our PSAs to better understand and connect with patients and their caregivers.
PSA, Jane Lim (from left) and Mrs Chan helping Mr Juffri and Mr Chan during their origami activity
Origami – not just an individual activity
Mr Juffri and Mr Chan were keen participants of the activities organised by Jane, and when Jane introduced origami to the patients in the ward, Mr Juffri came up with an inspired idea.
“Let’s create an origami together! You’ll be my right hand and I’ll be your left!” Mr Juffri suggested to Mr Chan.
Jane was initially apprehensive about Mr Juffri’s proposal as it was hard enough for one patient to fold paper art, let alone for two stroke patients as the activity requires fine motor skills. Persuaded by their enthusiasm, Jane decided to help them give it a try.
During the course of the activity, Mr Juffri and Mr Chan showed great determination to complete what they had set out to do, even though they struggled at the beginning as their conditions impeded the control of their movements. However with the help of Jane and Mr Chan’s wife, they eventually succeeded in putting together an origami masterpiece.
Mr Juffri’s and Mr Chan’s origami masterpiece
The end result
The origami creation is now proudly displayed at a special corner in Mr Chan’s house.
“No doubt it was a challenging task, but we both enjoyed ourselves throughout the process,” shared Mr Chan.
“After the origami’s completion, Juffri and I called ourselves the ‘Left and Right Hope’! Even though we both suffer from stroke, we were still able to create something artistic together!”
Jane was also very pleased with the outcome.
“It was heartening to see Mr Juffri and Mr Chan support each other by combining their strengths,” she said, “this experience has taught me that we should always try to look beyond patients’ conditions, focus on the positive, and we will be enlightened at how ‘abled’ patients can be.”
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