Newscaster sits down - and is paralysed

Ras Adiba Radzi, who injured her spine in a car accident in 1995, hears a crack in her spine as she tries to sit down

KUALA LUMPUR - Popular Malaysian television newscaster Ras Adiba Radzi became paralysed from the waist down after she hurt her spine while trying to sit down at home last week.

Her spine was damaged seven years ago in a road accident and has been propped up with titanium implants.

Doctors told her that she should go for surgery to repair her spine urgently to enable her to walk again.

Speaking from her hospital bed, Ms Ras, 33, said that it started with a sharp pain in her lower back last week.

'Then as I tried to sit down, I heard a crack in my spine and I had to be rushed to hospital,' she recalled at the Pantai Medical Centre here. 'I am now partially paralysed,' she said.

Before the incident on July 11, Ms Ras had been using a wheelchair to move around to ease the pain on her back.

'I cannot sit or stand for long. Even lying in bed is painful and I have to put pillows under my back,' she said.

Ms Ras, who is divorced, injured her spine in a car accident in 1995 while she was on a reporting assignment for private television station TV3.

'I had to take drugs and steroids to ease the pain and in 1999, my doctors suggested that implants be placed on my spinal cord to rectify the problem,' she added.

It was then that the newscaster, who had been active in sports, especially motor racing, realised the seriousness of the injury and underwent titanium implants.

But last year, the condition of her spine worsened after she was attacked by a group of men outside her mother's house in Cheras here.

'It was very painful. I was only given local anaesthesia as I had to be awake throughout the operation. The surgeon needed my input to ensure that the implants were correctly placed,' said Ms Ras of the second operation.

She now needs to go for another operation to treat her spine in Sydney at a cost of RM300,000 (S$138,000).

'It is very critical for me as my doctors said that my nerves are deteriorating day by day,' she said.

'Specialists here can perform the operation but they advise me to have it done at the place where I have undergone surgery before,' she said. --The Star/AsiaNews Network,New Straits Times

Talk about a rough life.....

The Star,
Friday, March 23, 2001

TV3 sports presenter Ras Adiba attacked

KUALA LUMPUR: TV3 sports presenter Ras Adiba Radzi was assaulted
by an assailant in front of her mother's house in Kampung Pandan early
yesterday.

Ras Adiba, 33, suffered head and neck injuries when she was hit with a
crash helmet about 2.30am.

Her relatives sent her to the Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital for treatment
after the attack but was later transferred to the Pantai Medical Centre for
observation.

The drama unfolded when Ras Adiba drove to her mother's house in
Kampung Pandan after meeting some friends at the Concorde Hotel in Jalan
Sultan Ismail.

"I noticed two motorcycles approaching me as I stepped out of my car.

"I thought they were some neighbourhood youths and ignored them until
both bikes stopped near me,'' she said when met at the hospital yesterday.

Ras Adiba said that one of the pillion riders rushed towards her and struck a
blow to her head with a helmet.

"After the first blow I fell to the ground and screamed for help. Several
blows to my head by the assailant followed,'' she said.

It is learnt that Ras Adiba's aunt, Wan Zuraidah Abu, 36, who was about to
open the gate for her was shocked at seeing her niece being assaulted,
prompting her to call out for help too.

"The assailant stopped beating me and fled with the three others after
neighbours came out of their houses to check on the commotion,'' said Ras
Adiba.

She described the attack as traumatic, adding that she did not know why
anyone would want to harm her.

She said doctors had advised her to rest while she recovered from her
injuries which included several bruises on her body and a blood clot at the
back of her head.

City police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Meor Chek Hussein Mahayudin
confirmed that a report was lodged at the Cheras district police
headquarters.

"We are in the midst of investigations and based on the report, we have
classified the case as assault,'' he said.

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