Salhi Khaessa Ahmad has been located!! He was found weak and confused, wandering in Kuala Lipis. The district hospital there sent him to Kuantan GH. Luckily someone who had read about him recognised him and called his parents. Thanks to all who had passed the info around and to all who had offered their prayers for Salhi and his family.
Original post:
Looking at the picture above, some people may think the guy's big enough to take care of himself. He looks normal and healthy. But the fact is, this guy, SALHI KHAESSA AHMAD, has mental illness and his family has been desperately looking for him since he went missing on July 13th 2007. A police report has been made, but since he is already 26, the case is not given priority.
Below is an email from his sister, Dr Najmiah Ahmad:
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Salam,Hi all.
I know this is about to become like me airing my dirty laundry for the world to know, but I feel so desperate. I need to tell this to you girls.
My brother Salhi has been ill with a psychiatric illness.Schizophrenia to be precise. He is 26 and he started having mental disturbance at 17 when he was in MCKK lagi.He was the genius of the family, the badut of the family and the best little brother anyone could ever wish for.
Past 10 years saw him deteriorating and my heart sgt sgt sebak when this time, I went to the hospital in KB to find him locked up in a cage, together with people I would not even look at, bcos they scare me. He had extra muscular twitches and gaunt facial expression. Memang tak nampak mcm my used to be little brother anymore. In between bites of coney dog ( dia suka A&W) he managed to tell me 'Nak sekolah balik Kak Mie please '. Repeatedly. I just held back tears.
We took him out, and he was stable during my wedding. Masa reception I kept him occupied with a camera so people don't feel obliged to make a petty talk with a 'weird' looking man. Everything was fine.
On Friday the 13th, he left home saying he wanted to go for a walk. RM 3.50 in his pocket. He never came back. Duit tak ada, IC tak ada. We looked for him everywhere, satu Kelantan. No news.
He hasn't taken his medications for 2 weeks now, I tak tahulah how he is now. Mungkin kalau you all jalan2 kat KL nampak budak gila (i have to accept this now) talking to himself, kotor, kurus tak terurus, kejap cakap english kejap cakap kelantan, that's him. Let me know.
What i fear is that he got hit by a lorry ke, in a ditch somewhere waiting to be found. I am writing almost with tears all the time. Partly because I am frustrated there wasn't much time for me in Malaysia, to do anything. Police report has been filed and my other brother has written in the Star. Now this waiting game is making me very apprehensive..
Usually he'll find means to go back to Kuala Kangsar. 2 kali he was found in MCKK in the past. His memory seemed to have stopped at that point in hislife. Allah sahajalah yang tahu why he is tested this far. To him he is still 17.
Doakan so he's looked after by people yang he come across, who would find sympathy in them to give him food and a place to shut his eyes. Insy. Amiin. And I am sorry if anybody finds this upsetting.
Love,Najmiah
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And here's a second email from Najmiah:
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I go through a cycle of optimism and pessimism. Looking at how he was found last time after 4 days missing , by the roadside, cengkung and dishevelled, makan tak minum tak tidur tak, I just hope he's still alive.
On the cause of his illness, I am not the best to outline the cause, but what i know is always complained about being bullied in MCKK. To what extent we didn't know because at the time it's our fault we thought he was 'just saying it'. So nobody paid attention to his complaints.
After getting some prize money for his 8As PMR from a Japanese Minister he ran away from school but not to home, but to KL. When we found him he said he couldn;t stand school. Nak balik rumah takut my dad marah. My dad took him out of school and he went to a school in Kelantan. Towards his SPM he was getting worse but managed 2A1 - Physics and Add Maths. Already on tablet he joined the flying school, he was always fascinated by airplanes, always wanted to be a pilot. Half a year he was there (Kedah i think) they found his tablets and he was expelled. He took a turn for the worse.
When he got slightly better I got him enrolled in a private college. He received a best student award when he was on this medication tradename Domatil. Somehow the tablet was stopped ( pricey I think) and he was on Risperidone ( for those medics who are interested) , he is never stable since and he couldn't sit his exams.
To what extent was he bullied? Was it very bad that he couldn't tell anyone? Sexually? Or was he already 'crazy' so people bullied him? Chicken ke egg ke. I reserve my comments for now on boarding schools. May he returns safe. Amiin.
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And this is the link to the article in the Star:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/27/nation/18416888&sec=nation
Anyone who has seen him please contact his father, En. Ahmad at 09-786 6040, 017-970 3227 or 012-296 2642.
24 comments:
Sorry to hear that your bro is missing, Dr. Najmiah. Will pray hard that Shalhi will be found soon and all these time that he is missing that someone kind has been taking care of him.
Pi..
Besides PLWHAs, mental illness is the other less-known scourge affecting society. I personally know some people who are "chemically-imbalanced" and with the right treatment (sometimes this takes years, if not decades to get right) they are able to be productive and contribute to society...
Since it is least understood (schizophrenia, maniac-depression and their ilk) of modern illness, a lot of stigma is often attached to the afflicted and their families; the shame, etc. Mystics and quacks (bomoh) unfortunately adds to detriment of the unfortunate soul.
Through the years since I left MC, I've only heard about three known serious cases of one-time wunderkid turned mental. One is a year my junior and he can often be found wondering Taman Tun in dishelleved clothing. Occasionally I give him money to feed his smoking habit. Fortunately he has loving, rather affluent family so he able to get by on medication. But he hasn't worked a day in his life and turns 44 this year...
No, I don't think bullying had anything to do with this. Statistically I believe it happens accross whole segments of society equally. It's just quirks of the human condition. I've also met "high-flyers" in the corporate world who in a particular phase of life went thru depression - but managed to get "cured" eventually. They are lucky ones who have kind and understanding employers. Most companies and insurers do not cover this sort of treatment.
I feel sorry for Salhi, and I hope they will be able to find him soon so he can be sent for proper treatment.
To Dr. Najmiah, as a doctor, may I suggest you get an opinion from Dr. Saleha HKL. She is the formeost authority on mental illness and perhaps she can help.
Insya'Allah, I pray too for his eventual safe return...
Winnie,
Yes, let's hope Salhi is being taken care of by someone kind who simply didn't know that his family is looking for him.
Mat Salo,
I doubt bullying was the cause either - although maybe it did have to some extent some effect in worsening his unstable condition.
Najmiah was simply venting out her frustration at not knowing what else to do... up to the point where she's thinking that she too was at fault for not taking him seriously when he complained the last time. During this time, the whole family need all the support they can get. They are under tremendous pressure and not knowing where Salhi is and how his condition is has led them to be apprehensive.
Let's all hope Salhi will be found soon.
My heart goes out to Dr Najmiah and family. Hope they find Shalhi safe and sound.
my heart too, goes out to dr najmiah. lets pray and hope that this ends well and dr najmiah's worst fear will be over in no time.
On behalf of Dr Najmiah, I'd like to thank all well-wishers. At the same time I do hope you could also kindly pass the message and photo along to your acquaintances. Who knows, someone out there may have bumped into him but probably thinking this is just a homeless "orang gila", they may just avoid him.
Oh dear... I feel so sorry for Dr Najmiah and the family of Salhi.
I hope Salmi is found soon. I am hoping for the best.
I will pass on your post via email to some so that they can spread the word.
Thanks a lot, JT!
salam,
semoga dapat ditemui dan dia selamat... entahlah, kadang-kadang boarding school ni raggingnya tak habis-habis..... kasihan pada yang jadi mangsa :(
kesian dengar cerita dia. i hope he'l be found very very soon. il also email my frens back in kl abt it.
LUJ,
We can't be too sure if the bullying had anything to do with this. It was just one of the things Najmiah thought could be the reason. So many others came out from boarding schools just fine, including Najmiah herself. Let's just pray for Salhi's safety.
Princess,
Thank you so much.
loveujordan, don't be to shallow minded, non boarding schools also have ragging/bully problems.
i was salhi's one year junior, he was a nice chap, always smiling and soft spoken, i hope and pray for his well being because for the time i've known him before he went missing, i only have good words to describe him.
Anonymous,
Sad isn't it when someone you know has to go through this... what more a nice chap like Salhi.
We all pray for his safety and well being.
Assalamualaikum Pi,
Once I asked a friend who is a doctor, why he wants to be psychiatric doctor? His answer hit me back as he said that he wants to help people. His answer gave me hope that there are people who care out there, even though we are living among people who don't want to care about others. May Allah protect Shalhi and return him to his family safely. Aameen.
Lightnur,
Wa'alaikum salaam.
There are always caring people out there... let us try to be part of the caring society.
Assalamualaikum Kak Pi
Sebak baca your update kali ni.
My prayers for the safe return of Dr Salhi's brother to his family. Semoga Allah melindungi dia dari malapetaka dan bencana.
I'll post a link on this to my blog if you don't mind, kak pi?
Wassalam.
Ibu,
Please go ahead and post the link. The more links the better, hopefully we can spread the message to more people and eventually somebody will find him and call his family.
Thanks.
alhamdullillah...
Oh my goodness I should have come here sooner! I am so there with you Dr Najmiah..my brother in law is also the genius, and now is suffering from schizophrenia, now missing for 2 weeks in KL and I HARAAAP sangat ada "happy ending" ie we get to find him...we too thought it was bullying, but take heart that this is dugaan Allahswt for him..that this is preordained, nothing to do with external factor although I understand it can trigger it...his family members gedegang gedegang, own brother is a consultant specialist..rasa guilty yang amat sangat that we cannot do more. I hope Daus my brother in law , will be found soon..take care.
Pi Bani-=tumpang sat your blog..and nice to meet you !!!
so sorry, didnt mean to spam the post..macamana boleh sampai tiga kali keluar...i notice that this post was 3 years ago..if i can find out what happened to salhi that would be great...
Shila,
As mentioned in the update at the top of this post, Salhi was found, if I'm not mistaken about a week after he was reported missing.
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