Kuningan policemen struggle to recover

Leony Aurora The Jakarta Post/Singapore

The space next to the vending machine in front of Mount Elizabeth Hospital's critical care unit seemed reserved for the mother of National Police officer Second Brig. Asep Wahyudi.

Asep's parents have been waiting for more than seven weeks for their son to come out of his coma.

The policeman suffered a severe head injury in the Sept. 9 bombing in front of the Australian Embassy on Jl. Rasuna Said in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

"The swelling in his head has gone down," said his mother, Nang Souna, as she waited for Asep to emerge from a small operation to drain fluid from his head. "He's back to being Asep again."

Despite remaining consciousness since the bombing, the 20-year-old has shown progress and is now able to move his left hand and his mouth, and can even yawn. It is yet to be seen whether he will wake, but the hope -- although small -- is there.

Meanwhile, Indonesia mourned the loss of another victim to the blast with the death of 16-year-old Mutia Rahmani Amalia from complications resulting from chronic infection, which brought the Kuningan toll to 10.

More than 180 others were injured in the explosion.

Two of Asep's fellow policemen from the Mobile Brigade unit were also transferred to Singapore in mid-September for medical treatment by the Australian Embassy, and are recovering nicely.

First Adj. Brig. Wahyu and Second Brig. Diki Maulana have already been discharged and now live in separate apartments 10 minutes' walk from the hospital for follow-up treatment.

Wahyu is taking physiotherapy for his right leg -- the very one Indonesian doctors had considered amputating, as it had been badly damaged.

"As soon as the wound heals over, my doctor here says I can walk again," said Wahyu.

His colleague, Diki, had suffered internal injuries to his vital organs, including his kidneys and liver, and had blood in his lungs. "His breathing is much better now," said his father, Muchtar.

The two policemen looked thin, but well when The Jakarta Post and Kompas visited their apartments over the weekend. However, their wounds are not only physiological, but emotional and psychological as well.

"I'd rather be assigned to a desk job at an office," said Diki. "I don't want to work in Jakarta anymore."

Wahyu also wants to return to his hometown in Yogyakarta. "All I want is peace," said the father of one, who is expecting a second child in five months.

The injured victims and their families hail the Australian Embassy for its continued support -- both financial and moral.

"They visited us every day," said Muchtar. "They even accompanied us on our doctors' visits to help with the translation, as we don't speak English."

Representatives of the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore has also visited the policemen several times.

"The first time they came was a month after we had arrived," said Wahyu. "They said they had just found out we were here."

For the policemen's families, what matter most is not the financial support.

"It would be nice to get some attention, to have someone to talk to," said Souna, as she perched on a window sill next to her mattress, laid out near the vending machine.

For her, the days ahead seem weary and frustrating as she waits for a change in the condition of her son, who is still struggling in the critical care unit.