ALOR STAR: Two days ago, Nur Shafiqah Abdullah, 32, handed a passport-sized photo to Mohamad Firdaus Roslan, 34, and asked him to keep it safe in his wallet.
Little did he know it would be one of Shafiqah's last requests to him before she left him and their two-year-old son forever.
"I had just finished eating a meal prepared by my wife when I heard a loud bang. It just a stone's throw away from the fuel station where I work. However, I did not go to the scene since I was still on duty.
"Minutes later, a boy came running to the station and told me that my wife was involved in an accident," said Firdaus, fighting back tears when met at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital mortuary.
Firdaus said the sight of his wife lying motionless on the hood of a Proton Satria shattered his heart.
Her sister, who was riding pillion on their motorcycle, was also badly injured near the scene.
"My wife's eyes were still weakly blinking. I whispered in her ear to recite the 'syahadah' several times before she finally stopped responding, minutes later.
"I thought she had just blacked out. My world crumbled the moment the emergency medical personnel who arrived at the scene confirmed that my wife had died," he said.
In the 7pm incident in Jalan Kuala Kedah here yesterday, Shafiqah, a dry fish trader at Pasar Besar Alor Star, was riding the motorcycle while her elder sister, Nooraliza, 43, rode pillion.
The sisters were travelling from the Taman Bersatu traffic light towards Kuala Kedah in rain when they were rammed by a car driven by a 14-year-old girl, who was travelling from the opposite direction.
Shafiqah died at the scene due to fatal crash impacts while Noorazliza suffered multiple bodily injuries.
Kota Setar acting police chief Superintendent Syed Basri Syed Ali was quoted as saying that the girl had lost control of the car while driving in the rain, sending the vehicle veering into the opposite direction before crashing into the victims' motorcycle.
Initial investigations revealed that the incident was caused by the car driver's reckless driving which causing her to lose control of the vehicle.
The girl, a school dropout and unemployed, survived with minor injuries to her nose.
Police are now investigating the mother of the girl's friend for allowing the minor to drive the car.
Meanwhile, Firdaus said the last time he met Shafiqah was two hours prior to the incident when he returned to their home in Kampung Ulu, Kuala Kedah to pick up packed meal prepared by her.
They shared jokes with each other during the quick break before returning to work.
Little did he know that would be their last conversation together.
"Shafiqah was planning to go to Thailand next month with her friends. That was why she took passport-sized photos to apply for a border pass document.
"She passed me the last copy and asked me to keep it safe in my wallet. It turned out it was a last wish before she left me forever," he said in a broken voice.
Firdaus said while he accepted his wife's sudden passing as fate, he is left devastated that the incident had robbed the love of a mother away from their toddler.
"The girl is still underaged and has no driving license. How was she allowed to drive a car belonging to someone else? How could they be so careless?" he asked.
Firdaus said he is mulling to take a legal action against those responsible, adding that none of the girl's relative approached him to offer an apology.