Filipina loses leg in Cambodia crash

A short vacation turned into a nightmare for a 30-year-old Filipino tourist who lost her right leg in a bus collision in Cambodia.

Nina Kristine Abad, a senior operations manager of a well-renowned contact center in Makati, was with other foreign tourists on board the Kampuchea Angkor Express, a double-decker bus, when it careened and collided with a truck filled with corn early Monday morning in Prey Veng, Cambodia.

Nina, a travel enthusiast, was in Cambodia to see the Angkor Wat, an item in her bucket list.

“The first thing I did, I checked my teeth, my collarbone, and my eyes.” She was lucid and while she wished she were unconscious, she felt assured that she will be fine. She even did a few multiplications and recited the alphabet in her head to check for any brain injury from the impact.

It took over an hour before the passengers were rescued from the wreckage, with about seven of them suffering major injuries, two of whom did not survive.

The first hospital Nina was brought to was only about 20 minutes away but it did not have complete facilities, so Nina was taken to Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh, where she is now confined.

There were 34 passengers on the bus. Other foreign tourists came from South Korea, Spain, Indonesia and Ireland.

The road accident is still under investigation while the driver, who reportedly fled the scene, is still at large. An online news article quoted Peam Ro district police chief Seng Ponlok as saying, “(W)e think that it was caused by the driver being sleepy.”

The Philippine Consulate in Cambodia, represented by lawyer Norman Corneros, was quick to offer assistance to Nina.

“I already had a feeling since the accident that I may have to lose a leg,” Nina said. When she was pulled from the bus wreckage, Nina saw that her left leg looked broken, but her right leg had it worse, and the X-rays confirmed her suspicion. Nina’s left femur bone was repaired, but her right leg was amputated Tuesday morning.

“They cut below the knee and I know there are prosthetics available so I know I’ll be all right,” Nina said, full of hope, not sounding upset at all. Her doctor said she could be ready for a skin grafting in 10 days, after which her wound will be closed up and she could be ready to travel via an air ambulance.

Filipinos living in Cambodia who read about the accident on The Cambodian Daily have flocked to visit Nina and to wish her well.