JOHOR BARU, May 16 — National kayaker Siti Nurul Masyitah Md Elias will have to skip the 2024 ICF Dragon Boat World Championships in the Philippines from October 30-November 3 after suffering serious injuries in an accident on Saturday (May 11) and focus on the recuperation process, said Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Adam Adli.

He said the 22-year-old will have to forget about competing in her maiden world meet after sustaining fractures to her right shoulder and pelvic bone and injuring her back after being rear-ended by a vehicle and dragged for about 600 metres.

He said Siti Nurul Masyitah was undergoing training for the world meet set to be held in Palawan, the Philippines but the injuries mean she is now set to miss the world meet and several other championships.

"Having been severely injured in the accident, she will need to focus fully on her rehabilitation process as well as physical and mental health.

"... We will provide her with the best possible help and support,” he told reporters after visiting Siti Nurul Masyitah at the Columbia Asia Hospital here today.

Adam added that it will take quite a long time for her to fully recover and the ministry is also ready to bear the cost of treatment, especially if she needs an allograft procedure with skin grafts imported from overseas for her back injury, like what national footballer Faisal Halim underwent after being splashed with acid.

"I am confident she is a strong person, she is also very cheerful. However, we did not discuss her participation in the world meet but, instead, encouraged her to rise again.

"However, she had one request. She wants to sit for two more end-of-semester test papers at the Ibrahim Sultan Polytechnic (PIS) and we hope it will be taken into consideration as she can still read, write, converse and move her limbs,” he said.

Meanwhile, Siti Nurul Masyitah’s 58-year-old mother, Saloma Ramli said her daughter had shown a positive development now that she’s conscious and able to talk and eat normally.

"But today she has to fast, at about 5pm she will head back into the operating room to see if she could use the skin on other parts of her body to patch her injured back,” she said. — Bernama