‘She has come home’: Semadang gathers to receive fallen nurse Debra Moset for the last time

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By Shikin Louis

KUCHING, Sept 13: The road home to Kampung Semadang was lined with people today — neighbours, relatives, community leaders and friends who had come to wait quietly for one of their own to return.

After days of grief following the Long Lellang helicopter crash, nurse Debra Moset finally came home.

Her body was flown from Miri to Kuching Airport before being escorted by police to her family home in Kampung Semadang, Puncak Borneo, where a crowd had gathered patiently to receive her and pay their final respects.

For many who stood by the roadside and waited, there was little to say.

They simply wanted to be there when Debra came home.

Her husband John Then Hua Ken, 43, their children Euodia Then Suling, 15, and Eugene Then Kuling, 12, and her mother Renog Rasas, 71, were among those who received her remains.

The homecoming also brought together Debra’s wider family — including neighbours from Kampung Semadang and surrounding villages — as well as friends and former colleagues from the nursing and medical fraternity who came to say goodbye to a woman they knew not only as a nurse, but as a friend and part of their community.

Also present to pay their final respects were Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian; Deputy Minister of Transport (Aviation and Roads) Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, accompanied by his wife Datin Lee Chai Foong; and Deputy Minister of Transport (Riverine and Marine) Datuk Henry Harry Jinep. They conveyed their condolences and support to Debra’s grieving family.

Dr Jerip described the day as a deeply painful one for the Bidayuh community, particularly the Bengoh/Mambong area, saying Debra’s death had been felt far beyond her immediate family.

He said the turnout at Kampung Semadang reflected the close ties between families and villages in the area, with people coming from neighbouring communities simply to be present.

“This is not only a tragedy for her family, but for the whole family of the Health Department, the Bidayuh community and the surrounding communities,” he said.

Dr Jerip also thanked everyone involved in bringing Debra’s remains safely from Miri to Kuching and then home to Semadang, including the police for providing the escort.

He said Debra had spent her career in nursing, and her loss was deeply felt by the medical fraternity.

The sense of loss was particularly heavy for her immediate family, he said, with her husband and two children having to come to terms with the sudden death of their mother and wife.

Dr Jerip said the family’s grief was something the community would walk through with them.

“They are traumatised. All of us are traumatised when we lose our loved ones. But they also know that they are not alone in their struggles,” he said.

He said the support shown by the community and Sarawak government would help remind Debra’s children that they had people around them who would continue to stand by them.

“If there is any need for counselling, any need for whatever requirement in terms of emotional stress later on, we will always reach out to them,” he said.

Dr Jerip also conveyed the family’s appreciation to the Sarawak government for the RM100,000 assistance extended following Debra’s death, as well as support towards her children’s education.

Debra’s funeral is scheduled to take place tomorrow at St Patrick’s Anglican Church, followed by burial at the church cemetery.

Today, however, was about bringing her home — to the village that had been waiting for her, one last time.

Debra was among the five victims of the helicopter crash near the Long Lellang Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) airport in Marudi on Sept 8.

The five victims were pilot Captain Zainol Afiq Bee Sham, 30; medical officer Dr Ainul Baraah Kamaruddin, 33; medical assistant Alexson Adit Henry, 31; and staff nurses Debra Moset, 40, and Jessie Paya Jok, 44. — DayakDaily

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