![]() "The house was always filled with people, her friends who'd visit and help," Mr Chan added. When she was stricken with the disease, her nearest and dearest focused on making her as comfortable as possible. ![]() "We kept a very clear line between work and personal life," he said. Mr Chan said the couple never discussed his MP duties. Her friends chose her final outfit, a pink cheongsam, and the photos for the slideshow montage at Mount Vernon Sanctuary. Mrs Chan, an avid traveller, had a strong support network to tap on. "And he'll be flying off after her cremation on Monday." "It must have been traumatic for Richard, rushing from the airport to hospital," Mr Chan said. They decided to take her off life support on Thursday. He flew into Singapore in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The family decided to keep her on life support so that Richard could bid a final farewell. Mr Chan drove to hospital and received the bad news. On Sunday, Mr Chan was on his way home after teaching classes at the Nanyang Technological University when older son Nicholas called. She had to rely on a wheelchair and round-the-clock care from hired help, her family and friends. It affected her feet and she couldn't stand," Mr Chan said, demonstrating how his wife fell over. "Her fingers were affected, so she could not hold chopsticks. She was able to fly to Australia in June to visit her younger son Richard, a dentistry undergraduate. "Her sleep was disturbed," Mr Chan recalled. But the symptoms did not show up until April this year. She got herself tested in 2005 after her relative died from the disease. It is so rare that only about 100 people worldwide are affected. Mrs Chan had fatal familial insomnia (FFI), a genetic disease that affects the brain and body movement. "She heard her friends talking about Krabi and wanted to go. She died on Thursday, the date she would have returned to Singapore. Mrs Chan, 57, suffered a seizure on Sunday. ![]() They would be holidaying at the Thai beach resort with her group of about 10 friends. SINGAPORE - If things had gone as planned, former Joo Chiat MP Chan Soo Sen and his wife Patricia would have been in Krabi this week. ![]()
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