When a sudden health crisis struck, COL (NS) Martin Lee faced the toughest battle of his life. With resilience and grit, he found his way back, stronger, humbled, and grateful for every breath.
It was just past midnight when COL (NS) Martin Lee Mui Seng, 47, woke up gasping for air. As the Deputy Commander of the 2nd SCDF Division and a former SCDF regular, Martin is trained to deal with emergencies. Except this was personal. His chest felt heavy and his breaths were shallow. Staying calm, Martin reached for the pulse oximeter that he kept in his nightstand and slipped it onto his finger. Less than a minute later, the number he saw shocked him. His blood oxygen level was very low at 85%.
Without hesitation, he reached for his phone and called for an ambulance. Martin initially insisted on going to the hospital alone, but his wife would not allow it and accompanied him. As the ambulance moved through the late-night traffic, Martin laid on the stretcher, trying to make sense of what was happening.
What had begun as a dull knee ache, which he brushed off as a minor sports injury, had spiralled into fever, nausea, and physical exhaustion. “I thought it might be an infection that had affected my lungs, since I was feeling breathless,” he thought to himself. “Things did not look good.”
Once at Sengkang General Hospital, doctors rushed Martin into the Intensive Care Unit. A ventilator tube was inserted to help him breathe and his kidneys were hooked up onto a dialysis machine. Unknown to him, the infection had spread to his heart. Soon after, he was sedated and slipped off into sleep. As Martin drifted in and out of consciousness, he caught glimpses of his wife at his bedside.
Martin recalls dreaming vividly of people. “I was dreaming of all kinds of things, of people I knew, people I had met before, friends and family. But no nightmares!” he quipped with a faint laugh. Perhaps he had made peace with whatever was coming. When the test results came in, he realised that he had a heart valve infection and had to be operated on immediately.
On 30 April 2025, after transferring to the Singapore General Hospital, heart surgeons performed open-heart surgery on him. “They had to cut through my chest, remove the infected valve, and replace it with a new one made from bovine tissue,” he explained softly, his calm manner belying the severity of what he had endured.
When Martin awoke from general anaesthesia, he braced himself for the post-operative recovery. He drew strength and encouragement from his wife and his medical team. As part of his post-operative treatment, Martin was put on antibiotics for a few months. Initially, as the antibiotics had to be administered intravenously (IV), he had to conduct his daily routine while carrying the IV pouch with him at all times.
To regain his movement and facilitate his recovery, Martin worked with a physiotherapist. Initially, he found it difficult to stand up or put one foot in front of the other, much less walk. As someone who had always prized and prioritised fitness, he found it very humbling. The prolonged health crisis took its toll, reducing his already lean physique of 53kg by more than 10kg. Regardless, Martin was determined to recover and eventually regained his movement. First a shuffle, then a few tentative steps, followed by a slow walk before hitting full stride. “I think my fitness level helped,” he said. “If I hadn’t been active before, things might have turned out very differently.”
After leaving the hospital, simplifying his daily life became part of his recovery. The experience had stripped life down to its essentials and he stepped up his focus on decluttering. “In the past, we liked to buy and keep things, and over time we accumulated so much. But if something happened to you, what would happen to all these items? Who would look after or manage them?” Realising he no longer needed some items, such as power banks, books, and unused gadgets, he began giving them away through online platforms.
Months later, Martin returned to his weekly football sessions on the same pitch where he had first felt that dull ache in his knee. While Martin prefers playing football to keep fit, he went ahead and joined the HomeTeamNS REAL® Run, completing the 5km route.
Besides staying active, he pays attention to his diet and eats mostly plant-based meals now. “I tell my younger NSmen to not take their health for granted. You don’t realise how important it is until you nearly lose it.”
An avid Chinese chess player in his university days, Martin has since taken up international chess, honing his skills through friendly matches. He relishes the challenges from younger opponents, as he knew that victory isn’t guaranteed. “If I stay focused and avoid mistakes, I can still outplay the younger players, even when we’re down to the final seconds,” he says.
Recently, he fulfilled a life-long dream. He flew to the United Kingdom in October 2025 to watch a Premier League football match at Old Trafford. As a diehard Manchester United fan, Martin wore the scarf of the Red Devils proudly in the stands.
When asked about the lessons he would like to share, Martin paused momentarily. “I was lucky. At certain points, the doctors thought that I was not going to make it,” he admitted. But it was not all luck. His training at SCDF in crisis response and staying composed during challenging situations made the difference when it mattered most – reaching for his pulse oximeter and decisively calling for an ambulance on that late night when he was gasping for breath.
Martin’s story is more than one of quiet endurance. His emotion is evident when he recounts the events that he went through. “Since I’ll need to replace my heart valve in 10 to 15 years, it feels like I’m living on borrowed time. By the time I’m around 65, the replacement will be due.” With that in mind, his priorities have shifted. His focus now is to spend more time with his wife and friends. Today, when Martin steps onto the football pitch for his weekly game, he is happy to be fit and healthy, savouring every moment.
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