Tan Whee Boon used to be as fit as a fiddle. For over 15 years, the technician climbed up and down ladders in dangerous industrial plants to check gas readings. But no longer.

Technician Whee Boon at his former workplace in 2013.

Now, he has to rely on his wife for everything, including his toilet and shower needs. 

“My world turned upside down after I ate a simple bowl of raw fish porridge,” Whee Boon, now 59, told Salt&Light.

In 2015, three days after Whee Boon ate a plate of yu sheng, he found himself in hospital where he went into a coma for about two weeks, before finding out that his hands and feet had turned gangrenous, ironically a likely side effect of the drug that had saved his life.

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) was one of three types of bacteria present in Whee Boon’s body. Authorities had also found traces of GBS in raw fish samples as they probed a spike in GBS cases that year.

As Whee Boon’s hands and feet turned black, doctors had no choice but to amputate them.

Whee Boon’s hands and feet turned gangrenous after he was given a drug to channel blood to his vital organs in order to save his life.

“When I woke up from the coma, there was a tube in my throat. Whenever I breathed in or out, I was in so much pain,” recalled Whee Boon.

His then colleague visited him when he was in the Intensive Care Unit, and shared the gospel with him.

“He had been telling me about Jesus for the past 15 years. Each time he tried to talk to me about God, I would ignore him as I didn’t like it. I found him naggy,” admitted Whee Boon.

This time, however, his colleague met with a different reception. Lying in his hospital bed, Whee Boon was desperate.

Blink once to accept Christ

As he could not talk, Whee Boon indicated his willingness to receive Christ by blinking.

“My colleague told me if I wanted to accept Christ, blink once and if not, blink twice. I blinked once. My situation was so dire that I wanted to grasp this lifeline that was offered to me,” said Whee Boon.

Afterwards, his colleague arranged for his pastor from Ang Mo Kio Presbyterian Church to lead Whee Boon in the Sinner’s Prayer.

As soon as Whee Boon uttered the prayer, he felt a difference in his spirit.

“I felt my burdens lifting and blurring out of focus. It was like magic, and I was so curious: How did God release that sense of peace to me?”

When the pastor left his room, a nurse that he had never seen before entered his room.

Whee Boon when he was first admitted to hospital after experiencing symptoms of food poisoning.

She told him that she had seen him praying with the pastor, and asked if he had just accepted God into his heart.

He replied that he had, and she asked him if she could pray for him.

“I couldn’t remember what she prayed for, but I knew that I felt really comforted after that. When she left, I never saw her again, unlike the rest of the nurses who came repeatedly during their morning or night shifts,” said Whee Boon.

“I believe she was an angel who was sent to pray for me at a very low point in my life,” he added.

First prayer 

God would hear his prayer, the pastor had told Whee Boon.

“So I asked God to let me drink water, as I felt I had not drunk water for such a long time that I had almost forgotten what it tasted like,” he said.

It was his first prayer to God.

The next day, he was amazed to hear that his doctor had given him the green light to drink water.

Unfortunately, a week later, his doctors conveyed the devastating news that they had to amputate his hands, then his feet, in order to stop the infection from spreading to the rest of his body.

“I prayed to God that if I really needed to amputate my hands, could He spare me from feeling any pain,” recalled Whee Boon.

When he woke up from the operation, there were only mounds of bandages where his hands used to be. But he did not feel any significant pain.

“That was the first miracle I witnessed,” Whee Boon said.

Just a coincidence? 

However, doubts swirled in the new believer’s mind. Growing up, his parents had divorced.

The sense of abandonment he felt caused him to become less trusting and more demanding of hard evidence. 

“I thought maybe my lack of pain was just a coincidence. Perhaps the doctor was so skilled that I didn’t feel any pain,” reasoned Whee Boon.

He decided to put God to the test. When the time came for his next operation to amputate his feet, he did not pray and ask God to help him have a pain-free experience.

For both surgeries, he was given anaesthesia and was unconscious during surgery.

However, unlike the first surgery, he experienced soul-wrenching pain for the second.

“It was so painful that my soul felt like it was being ripped out of me. I almost beat up my doctor when he checked on my wound,” said Whee Boon.

“I never felt such pain before. From then on, I never dared to test God anymore,” he said.

Whee Boon after going through two surgeries to amputate his hands and feet.

Undergoing rehabilitation in hospital.

After four months of hospitalisation, Whee Boon could finally be discharged. He was thankful to return home, though he knew a whole gamut of challenges awaited him as he adjusted to living life without limbs.

He felt like a baby all over again, having to relearn how to eat or use his handphone using customised tools.

His wife became his round-the-clock caregiver. The once self-sufficient head of the household suddenly found himself dependent on his family members. A triple whammy of grief over his losses, as well as the guilt and shame of being a burden to his loved ones, hit him hard and he took it out on his wife by getting into frequent arguments with her.

“We were quarrelling so much that I knew I needed to get out of the house to save my marriage. So I began to take part in activities outside, such as befriending other amputees from a support group,” said Whee Boon.

At an amputee support group outing in 2018.

Friends from Woodlands Evangelical Free Church that he had begun attending also invited him to join their praise dance group.

The group does exercises to the tunes of Christian music at neighbourhood void decks, hoping to share the Good News with others through worship, music and movement.

Whee Boon taking part in a praise dance performance.

“I am officially certified with 100% disability,” said Whee Boon. “Nobody would question me if I only eat or sleep all day long. But I told God that I didn’t want to live like that.” 

From doing praise dance in his wheelchair, Whee Boon further challenged himself by joining wheelchair rugby in 2016.

The pace is frantic, as each team only has 40 seconds to score a goal by carrying the ball across the opposing team’s goal line.

He went on to compete in regional competitions, securing gold and silver medals.

Whee Boon has represented Singapore in regional competitions for wheelchair rugby.

Though Whee Boon had God in his life and was keeping himself sufficiently busy, it was still hard for him to fight off suicidal thoughts that bombarded his mind.

Not wanting to be a burden to his family, he hatched “a beautiful plan” to take his life while he was away for a wheelchair rugby competition in Indonesia.

Whee Boon and his wife (in grey) joined a cell group in 2016.

“My helper went with me there. I wanted to do it overseas as my wife wouldn’t be around then. But strangely when I went there, I had so much fun competing that I forgot about my plan to kill myself,” said Whee Boon.

When he returned home, Whee Boon prayed and asked God to help him be able to earn some pocket money.

Whee Boon with his wife and two children in 2018.

His wife cannot work as she has to be by his side all the time. They have two young adult children.

“I saw His hand of provision through all the donations that came in. Applying for a job was unimaginable for me – I had met so many people with disabilities less severe than mine and yet they were unemployed,” he said.

Landing a job while trying to 3D print an arm 

At that time, Whee Boon looked up SG Enable’s website, wanting to sign up for a 3D printing course so that he could save some money by using 3D printing to design prosthetic arms for himself.

He ended up registering for a “3D Modelling” course, thinking that it referred to 3D printing. It turned out to be an entirely different course that focussed on designing 3D models for various purposes.

After going through the four-month course, Whee Boon interviewed with a company offering construction services. To his delight, he secured a job drawing up 3D models of buildings.

“It was clearly a miracle that God had arranged because it all began with a mistake! I had no prior experience in this field. I had to relearn how to move my stump to use a regular keyboard and mouse to do the drawings,” he said.

Witnessing the hand of God in his life has given Whee Boon the strength and resilience to live life purposely.

Whee Boon hard at work in office.

He participates in many sports and community events, and is also a “community teacher” at the Singapore Institute of Technology, where he mentors a group of Occupational Therapy undergraduates every year by giving them a glimpse of what life is like for people with disabilities.

Inviting university students to his home for a meal.

In 2021, he won the Goh Chok Tong Enable award that recognises the achievements of persons with disabilities.

Whee Boon’s latest faith-stretching endeavour is competitive dragon boat racing.

Helping out as a volunteer at a community event in 2017.

Taking part in a public event at the Istana in 2019.

With the help of a non-profit organisation, he worked with students from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) to create adaptive devices that enabled him to participate in the water sport.

The custom-made devices – such as a seat with lower limb support, paddle attachments for his right and left upper limbs – were designed to aid him in paddling the boat.

Quadruple amputee Whee Boon training with his dragon boat team at the Water Sports Centre in Kallang. Photo by The Straits Times.

“When I am in the water, I feel like the impossible has become possible,” said Whee Boon, who participated in his first local race in July this year.

World’s first quadruple amputee dragon boat racer

Whee Boon’s long-term goal is to participate at the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Germany next July, and the IDBF Club Crew World Championships in Taiwan in September 2026.

According to the IDBF, Whee Boon is currently the world’s first quadruple amputee to take part in competitive dragon boating.

There were many challenges along the way that nearly caused him to give up. They ranged from the custom attachments not fitting well, to exposure to long hours under the sun as it takes a while to get all the special gear set up before training even begins. There’s also the need for volunteers to help him during training sessions.

“I prayed and told God I wanted to give up. But I felt God telling me to stay on in dragon boating,” said an emotional Whee Boon.

“Perhaps the purpose of my staying on is to encourage others with disabilities to go out there and get the exercise they need,” he added. His team of dragon boaters with disabilities comprise mostly stroke survivors.

Whee Boon (in blue) with his dragon boat teammates and volunteers. As his caregiver, his wife (two rows in front of him) also races alongside him.

Looking back, Whee Boon has seen how God has saved him from death, not once, but four times. He nearly died from consuming raw fish, from a planned suicide and two major health scares.

In 2016, he had to insert stents for his heart as there were two blocked blood vessels. Last year, a doctor discovered an abnormality in his liver – it was later found to be a benign water blister.

Whee Boon taking part in a sports event with his ex-colleague Kar Tiang, who had shared the Gospel with him for years but only succeeded in bringing Whee Boon to faith when he was in his hospital bed.

Whee Boon may have undergone many trials and tribulations in his life ­– the most traumatic one being the loss of his hands and feet – yet he sees them as God’s mercies in disguise.

“I am a living embodiment of what is described in Matthew 18:8. If I did not lose all of my limbs, I would not have believed in God. I used to be chauvinistic and over-confident and had no need for God,” said Whee Boon.

In Matthew 18:8, a believer is urged to cut off his hands or feet if it causes him to stumble, for it is “better for (him) to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire”.

“Don’t be like me. Believe in God early, it is such a precious experience.”

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