Rest well, Mr Leck!

In his last moments, he found himself in a drain. His life was ebbing away.

He was in his own neighbourhood, but he was lost.

Most probably, he would had faced difficulties speaking, understanding his immediate environment and expressing himself to a passer-by.

When Mr William Leck was found on the evening of 3 January 2022, he was only a 20 minutes’ walk away from home. He had lost his balance and his sense of direction.

Knowing he had dementia, Mr Leck’s family members were frantically searching for him since 1 January.

A myriad of thoughts enveloped them, and we can only imagine their intense anxieties. This was not the first time he was lost. Twice previously, they found him and kept him warm in their arms.

They searched, they appealed, and they shouted. They were met with echoes of their own voices, amplified within their face masks. Tears flow.

As his life ebbs away in a storm drain, disorientation was the common emotion that binds both Mr Leck and his anxious loved ones.

In the aftermath of his death, guilt and self-reproach would most certainly have engulfed them.

As Mr Leck’s memories faded away in his conscious mind, his family was holding on to their memories of him as tightly as they can.

As gatherings and reunions were taking place at the dawn of a new year, with each passing minute, the Leck family was fast losing their patriarch.

In his last days, as he begins to forget who his loved ones were and their names, his loved ones continue to hold him dearly and closely as their beloved father and grandfather. 

They yearn again to hold him closely and look out for his well-being. Alas, on the evening of 3 January 2022, their lives were shattered. Blots of regret will continue to fester long after Mr Leck’s funerary arrangements are over.

The burden of caring for dementia patients often falls on the caregiver. Caregiving is, in fact, an all-consuming process. As a loved one’s cognitive, physical and functional ability gradually and progressively decline over time, family members would most likely have felt overwhelmed and disheartened.

Having to take care of a family member with dementia is never easy. The struggle is real, we need to listen more, empathise more and lend a helping hand whenever possible – point them to resources, including caregiver support groups, financial assistance schemes and professional nursing services, that are presently available.

There’s so much we can do as a society to ease the burden of families with dementia patients, emotionally and practically.

Dementia took away Mr Leck’s zest for life, and eventually his life as well. Today, we mourn the loss of Mr William Leck Swe Chua. He was 80. May he have found respite and peace as he breathes his last.