KLUANG: The husband of an 83-year-old woman, who died from pufferfish poisoning last month, had asked about her shortly before he himself passed away, says their daughter.

Ng Chuan Sing @ Eng Kuai Sin, 84, who went into a coma and had been fighting for his life after consuming the same fish, did not know that his wife had died.

“My father woke up from an eight-day coma.

“The first person he asked for was my mother. We told him she is resting at home.

“We did not tell him the truth because we were worried that he could not take it but we had a feeling that he knew my mother had died. He cried,” said the daughter Ng Ai Lee, 51.

She said after spending more than 10 days at the Intensive Cares Unit, Ng was transferred to the normal ward last Thursday.

“He looked fine and talked to me like usual.

“He asked about my mother again and we still hid the sad news from him, telling him that mom was okay and asked him to focus on his own health and recovery,” she recalled the last meeting with her father on Friday evening.

Ng died at 6.10am yesterday.

Ai Lee said according to the hospital, his cause of death was pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in an artery that blocks blood flow to the lung.

At a press conference held at the couple’s home later, Ai Lee called for justice for her parents.

“I hope the Kluang district health office will speed up investigations into their tragic deaths.

“Those responsible for their death should be held accountable under the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority Act 1972 and the Food Act 1983.

“I also hope the government will beef up enforcement and help to raise public awareness on pufferfish poisoning to prevent such incident from happening again,” she added.

Ng and his wife Lim Siew Guan, 83, consumed the fish they bought from a trader on March 25, unknowingly that it was the deadly pufferfish.

The couple began experiencing breathing difficulties and shivers.

Several hours later, Lim died of food poisoning with neurological manifestation resulting in respiratory failure and irregular heart rate, possibly due to toxin ingestion.

Asked if the family has gotten an apology from the fishmonger, Ai Lee answered “no”.