Victim from 2018 wild boar attack in Punggol still scarred by horrific encounter

Deepa Sundar
The Straits Times
Feb 24, 2021

Madam Alice Ng, 35, shuddered with fear reading the news reports of two separate wild boar attacks which injured two women at Punggol Walk last weekend.

The civil servant, who lives in Block 450 Pasir Ris Drive 6, knows how horrifying it is as she had been attacked by a wild boar more than two years ago. She was in the first trimester of her pregnancy then.

A hunt is now on for the wild boar after two women were attacked at blocks 308B and 310A Punggol Walk on the same night on Feb 20.

The victim in the first attack was bitten and dragged for about a metre before some residents came to her help. The second attack happened 20 minutes later.

Both victims were taken to Sengkang General Hospital by the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

The latest wild boar attacks on humans bring the number of incidents to four so far this year - up from three in the whole of 2020.

Recalling her own horrific attack by the boar, Madam Ng said she was on her way home from work.

She was heading towards the bus stop near her workplace when, out of nowhere, a wild boar attacked her from behind.

Madam Ng stressed that, despite previous speculations from netizens, she had not provoked the animal in any way.

She was not even aware of the boar's presence until she was attacked as she had her earphones on.

She said her maternal instinct kicked in instantly and she clenched onto a nearby fence and kept her front body away from the boar, ensuring that her foetus was not in harm's way.

The boar only left when an oncoming cyclist used his bicycle to fend off the boar. By then, she had already sustained deep cuts on her right calf.

She was then rushed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, where she underwent surgery.

Her injuries were so serious she had to undergo three operations to seal up her wounds, and was bedridden for almost a month. It took about two to three months for her to recover and her leg still bears the scars of that horrific attack.

A mother of a two-year-old daughter and four-month-old son, Madam Ng worries for the young children in the neighbourhood as they will be defenseless in a boar attack.

"I cannot imagine how bad it will be, since I, an adult, already had such severe injuries," she said in a phone interview with The Straits Times on Tuesday night.

Madam Ng's husband, Mr Dickson Tan, 40, who works as an engineer, said his heart went out to the recent victims, especially the first woman, whose injuries were just as severe as his wife's, if not worse.

Mr Tan urged the relevant authorities to ramp up their efforts to prevent similar incidents otherwise "it's just a matter of time before the next attack happens".

However, like most Punggol residents ST spoke to, the couple felt that culling should be a last resort and said the authorities should look into relocating the boars instead.