Nenggiri polls: Bedridden kidney patient still casts vote from hospital bed
The patient, Aziz Mat Isa, 63, arrived at the centre at 9am with the assistance of an ambulance provided by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Kota Raja Care.
GUA MUSANG - A stage five chronic kidney patient had to be transported on a hospital bed to the polling centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Jeram Tekoh to fulfil his voting responsibility in the Nenggiri State Assembly by-election on Saturday.
The patient, Aziz Mat Isa, 63, arrived at the centre at 9am with the assistance of an ambulance provided by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Kota Raja Care.
Aziz's 29-year-old son said that his father was determined to vote and requested to be taken to the polling centre despite being bedridden.
"My father has been suffering from kidney disease for a long time and has been bedridden for the past eight months.
"He has never missed voting in any general election or by-election, but this is the first time he has voted while lying on a hospital bed because he can no longer stand or walk," he said when met after helping his father vote at the school.
After casting his vote, marked by a purple ink stain on his left index finger, Aziz was assisted back home, not far from the polling centre, using the same ambulance.
Meanwhile, Kota Raja Care ambulance officer Mohd Hambali Azraee said that his team helped facilitate chronic patients in the Nenggiri area to fulfil their voting responsibilities in the by-election.
"Aziz is the first patient we assisted, and there are four more chronic patients who will be helped by our four volunteers to bring them to the polling centre.
"This service is provided free of charge and has been done several times to help voters at the polling centres," he said.
At the polling centre, there are a total of 3,968 registered voters, including 2,209 senior citizens across four voting streams.
Most of the senior citizens arrived to vote using wheelchairs.
The Nenggiri by-election saw a two-cornered fight between Barisan Nasional, represented by Kelantan Umno Youth chief Mohd Azmawi Fikri Abdul Ghani and former Royal Malaysian Navy member Mohd Rizwadi Ismail from Pas.
