SOLDIER'S ORDEAL TO SAVE FATHER IN HOLY LAND

MAKKAH, June 21 (Bernama) -- A man did not expect his father's recent invitation to perform the Hajj would be his last request when his father died of a heart attack while on his way to perform the pilgrimage at Jamratul Aqaba.

Fazrihin Bawi, 27, from Kampung Pusa, Betong, Sarawak said upon receiving the offer from Pilgrims Fund Board (TH), his father Bawi Solek, 79, cheerfully invited him to accompany him to perform the Hajj with his mother Seput Ujang, 71, but he refused causing his father to be annoyed.

"My father asked me many times to be his companion, but I turned him down because it was supposed to be my sister who was to go with them. That angered him as I explained that I couldn't go because of work but he refused to accept.

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"However, a week before the pilgrimage, I received a call from TH informing me that they needed a male companion for both of my parents, causing me to agree. Alhamdulillah, everything was facilitated for me to go to Hajj, including visa, passport and health check," he told media personnel here yesterday.

According to him, his father was the happiest when he found out that his youngest son of eight children, would accompany them on the Hajj.

Meanwhile recounting the last moments with his father, Fazrihin said after the Asr prayer last Sunday (10 Zulhijjah), he asked his father if he was strong enough to walk to the Jamrah complex which is located about 3.5 kilometres from the tent in Mina to perform the throwing ritual.

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"Dad expressed his willingness and we went with another cousin and a friend of my father. While in the first tunnel, dad can still walk with a few stops to relieve fatigue while drinking water. But when I got to the second tunnel I saw that my father was starting to look strange.

"I told him to stop for a moment to give him a drink of water because it was very hot in the tunnel at that time but he refused and he said he wasn't thirsty yet. Not long after we continued our journey, my father began to stagger and shiver before getting shortness of breath," he said.

Seeing the situation, he tried to find a wheelchair but failed to find it and seeing his father getting weaker, he immediately reached his father's hand and put it around his neck before carrying him on his back to seek medical help.

In the hot tunnel, Fazrihin who is a soldier in Sarawak had to stop several times before returning to pick up his father, but his father became weaker and collapsed in his arms.

"After collapsing, I held my father in my lap and saw that he was having shortness of breath. Not long after, a Saudi Arabian policeman came to help, followed by an Indonesian medical officer who volunteered to find a wheelchair to push my father to a nearby medical tent.

"However, not long after that I found that my father's pulse had stopped, causing me to once again pick up my father and run to the Indonesian medical tent not far from the place. They helped perform CPR and thank God my father regained consciousness, but was weak," he said.

His father was then sent to a hospital in Saudi Arabia for further treatment, but the next morning he received the news from the manager of Maktab 79 Al'Amin Jaminon that his father had died.

After arriving at the hospital to identify the body, the reality dawned on him that his father was really gone but his sad heart was healed when he saw his father's smiling face.

"I am relieved because my father had once said that he wanted to die in Makkah and for the last time I helped take care of his body from the bathing process, and wrapping him in Ihram cloth, praying and laiid him to rest. I pray that my father's soul will be freed from the torment of the grave and will be in heaven," he said.

The late Bawi was one of the six pilgrims who died after performing the wukuf in Arafah on June 19.

-- BERNAMA