KUCHING, Sept. 11 -- When a helicopter crashed just 200 metres from her home in Long Lellang, Renai Iwat was not only confronted with the trauma of losing a vital link to medical care, but also another race against time.

The dialysis patient, who requires treatment three times a week, needed to return to Miri after the Long Lellang STOLport was closed following Tuesday's tragic helicopter crash that claimed the lives of four medical personnel and a pilot.

Amid the grief and uncertainty, her family turned to the authorities for help.

Renai was eventually airlifted from Long Lellang to Miri Hospital on Thursday (Sept 10) by a Bomba helicopter, allowing her to resume the treatment on which she depends.

A family member who wished to remai...