Love Story: I left my job to take care of my husband when he almost died and lost his hearing after eating raw fish

Cathryn and her husband, Tharn Chun had been happily married for 20 years when an innocent consumption of a $3.50 raw fish porridge changed their lives forever.

Tharn Chun was among 360 people who were affected by the Group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteria last year.

He was in hospital for nearly two weeks and when he finally recovered from drifting in and out of consciousness, he had lost hearing completely in his right ear and at least 90 per cent of hearing in his left.

However, through it all, Cathryn stayed by his side and believes that this crisis further strengthened their marriage.

This is her entry for Stomp's Valentine's Day Love Story contest:

"Nov 19, 2015 was the day that totally changed the course of our destiny as husband and wife, even in the midst of an already super rocky marriage.

"An innocent consumption of a $3.50 raw fish dish at a popular hawker centre resulted in a near-death encounter for my husband of 20 years then.

"He was hospitalised for 43 days, including 12 days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), with three admissions into two hospitals and one double cochlear implant surgery. 

"During those 43 nightmarish days, the super hard red sofa next to my man in Ward A of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital was miraculously transformed into my bed for a total of 27 days.

"Despite having nurses to bath him, I chose to do it for him most of the time so as to expedite his recovery process.

"I usually brought my three teenaged children, then aged 13, 15 and 17, home at night after their visits before returning to the hospital ward to attend to him. 

"The 12 days in ICU were beyond my human imagination!

"I would be given daily updates by the ICU doctor.

"My husband's health condition was totally erratic, at times his blood pressures went down to a dangerously life threatening low of 70.

"He also got a clot in the vein of his brain, and two surgeries, brain and trachea, which were both aborted due to his improved condition.

"The emotional roller coaster ride was certainly not for the faint hearted!  

"The real tough times came in the wee hours of the night.

"Buckets of tears just rolled down profusely as if there could possibly be a "ponding" effect on our king size bed.

"Yet amazingly, day after day, I woke up the next day on a tear-dried bed.

"I suddenly became the ONLY pillar of strength for my children, and our eldest daughter was having her examinations as a first year student in Temasek Polytechnic during that difficult period. 

"Upon being discharged on Dec 31, 2015, and prior to the cochlear implants surgery on Jan 20, 2016, I single-handedly trained my man in his mobility.

"He moved from walking frame to walking stick and finally walking without assistance by February 2016.

"As the outcome of the cochlear implant surgery was not good, my man was made redundant on May 3, 2016 after a five years stint with industrial giant, Honeywell. 

"During his difficult moments of job loss due to hearing loss, I decisively took a leave of absence for 6 months as a fully commissioned Financial Consultant with financial giant, Prudential Singapore. 

"When my man's hearing did not improve, he also became unemployable. 

"Finally on Dec 30 2016, after a good 23 years and 9 months career with Prudential, I made the painful decision to resign. 

"Today, I am still exploring business opportunities so that I can finally employ my Husband  of 22 years to work alongside me. 

"Truly, in sickness or in health, for better or for worse, the commitment to each other in marriage is never easy. 

"A wedding is for a day yet a marriage is for a lifetime! 

"I know not what the future will hold, but I do know who holds our future. 

"Going forward, I am confident of this: This unprecedented crisis has certainly further strengthened our marriage. 

"I am hopelessly confident of this: As long as we are united as one, with the help of God whom we worship, the best is truly yet to come!"

Share your love story and win prizes worth $3,000.

Read other entries in the contest here.

This contest is proudly sponsored by Stomp, The Photobooth Guyz, Wave House Sentosa, ORTO, Katapult Trampoline Park, Maximum Drift and Prawning at ORTO, Gift Flowers Singapore and ShopBack.