Chinese primary school teacher Chan Shiau Yih expressed her gratitude to the kind individuals for their prompt assistance, which enabled her to have surgery to treat her scoliosis as soon as possible. The doctor might ask her to rest for a longer period of time as she gets older so that the bones and wounds can heal properly, she said, adding that it will take at least 3 months to recover after the operation.

"The doctor reaffirmed that I should avoid moving around too much and should avoid working during that time. However, since this is a long-term strategy, it is anticipated that further surgery won't be necessary."

Chan Shiau Yih, a Chinese primary school teacher from Johor, had more than 40 degrees of scoliosis during her teenage years. The doctor then suggested corrective surgery. However, due to the lack of technology, her family decided not to allow her for the surgery and opted for physiotherapy treatment. As an adult, she got married and had children. During pregnancy, she lost a lot of calcium, which caused her scoliosis to deteriorate rapidly in the past few years.

She visited an orthopaedic physician after experiencing lower back pain since last year. Her spine therefore had a two-stage curve with the upper half being 80 degrees and the lower half being 70 degrees. The doctor advised her to have surgery as soon as possible because the curved spine has compressed other organs and because the bones will also deteriorate with time.

The situation of Teacher Chan has attracted the attention of the public, and the remaining RM70,000 for the surgery were quickly funded within 15 hours. She is very grateful to the public for their generous donations, blessings and encouragement.