PADAWAN: “Mami, saya tunggu Mami” — those words from one of the late nurse Debra Moset’s children have become a poignant memory for the family following her passing in the Flying Doctor Service (FDS) helicopter crash in Long Lellang, Ulu Baram, on 8 September.

For her daughter, Euodia Then Suling, 15, her mother's return to Kampung Semadang on 3 September became one of her most treasured final memories, especially as Debra had taken the time to prepare her favourite soy sauce chicken.

"On 3 September, she came back and I told her, 'Mami, I want to eat soy sauce chicken’, because her soy sauce chicken is the best.

"After that she prepared the dish for me. That is the memory I will never forget,” she said when met at the family home in Kampung Semadang on Sunday.

According to Euodia, the last time she contacted her mother was on the day of the incident when she sent a message to the late Debra at around 3.27 pm.

"I chatted with her. I asked, 'Will Mami be back for my birthday next month?’ But she never got to read it because the message was not delivered to her,” she said.

Euodia said when she first learnt of the crash, she continued to hold out hope that her mother had survived and struggled to believe that she was gone.

“I thought she was still alive because people said she had managed to jump out. I really could not believe that my mother was gone,” she said.

Meanwhile, her younger brother, Eugene Then Kuling, 12, still remembers his mother’s final wave when he accompanied her to the airport on 3 September before she returned to Miri for work.

Eugene said his mother did not leave him with any particular words when they parted, other than a wave before she left.

That final wave has since become a deeply treasured memory for him.

For Euodia and Eugene, their mother’s brief return to the village, the soy sauce chicken she prepared and her final wave before leaving for work are now memories of Debra they will carry with them. -UKASnews