From bedridden to ‘baddie’: How surviving a near-fatal crash spurred this trainer to get mums and seniors moving
A devastating accident nearly killed Ms Siti Maryam Abdul Rahman and left her needing 10 surgeries. What began as a fight to rebuild her own body has led her to transform lives beyond her own
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It’s not every day you get to witness a 1.55m-tall woman deadlift 110kg
On the day I visited her at the gym, Ms Siti Maryam Abdul Rahman, 33, broke out into a victory dance after completing the feat. “You should come more often,” she said to me with a bright grin, as if my presence had given her an extra burst of energy
Her joy was understandable, given that the lift was a new personal best for her since recovering from a serious accident three years ago.
In 2023, a bus collision had left Ms Maryam bedridden for months, unable to get out of bed without assistance.
It happened when she was riding to her second job, and a double-decker bus mowed into the side of her motorcycle, flinging her onto the centre of the bus’ windshield.
She was then dragged a few metres by her bike before it jammed under the front of the bus – likely saving her from getting completely crushed
What followed was a four-day coma, 10 surgeries and months in a wheelchair. But, as Ms Maryam soon learnt, it could have been much worse
Noting her fit physique, her doctor explained that her “substantial” muscle mass had likely enabled her to absorb the impact of the collision, rather than sustaining even more severe damage.
She laughed, recalling her disbelief then and now: “I was, like, ‘You mean I’m supposed to be dead now?'”
That lit a fire under her to get back to exercising, even before she was discharged from hospital.
Using small weights in the hospital, she started doing light bicep curls and other exercises while lying on the hospital bed
Doctors predicted that it would take six to nine months before she could walk again. Focused on beating the odds, Ms Maryam was consistent with her rehabilitative exercises at home.
Her commitment paid off – she was walking again in three months.
A “TRAGIC” LIFE
For many people, such a serious accident might be their “rock-bottom” moment. For Ms Maryam, it was just the next in a series of unfortunate events that had marked her life
At the time of the collision, she was a single mother of four and in the middle of divorce proceedings.
Her youngest was barely two years old then, and she was already working to make ends meet for her family as the sole breadwinner – which was why she had taken a part-time sales job in addition to working in a gym
Five days before the accident, Ms Maryam had just returned from a solo trip to Japan. She went for a break after finding out that her ex-husband of 10 years had cheated on her.
“Throughout that 10 years, I endured a lot of trauma as well. Whatever I went through prepared me for this day (when the accident happened).”
While recovering from the accident and separating from her ex-husband, Ms Maryam wrestled with loneliness and depression for months
“Someone needed to push me in and out of the toilet, shower me and everything. But my mum was, like, ‘Don’t worry. If he’s not around, it doesn’t matter. I will take care of you’.”
When she first woke up in the hospital, lost and unable to speak, Ms Maryam was handed a small whiteboard to communicate with her family members, who were gathered around her bed.
On it, she simply wrote, “I love you guys”
When we chatted at her home and in the gym, she recounted these things with casual candidness, but it was difficult to keep from wincing as she listed her many injuries, including a shattered foot, a cut tongue and a severed liver.
She still bears the scars on her body – most notably a long line running down her torso, a stark reminder of one of the many surgeries she had to undergo after the accident
Being rendered bedridden overnight was excruciating, especially for someone well used to being on the move
“It was very, very terrifying and traumatising for me … I feel that a certain area of my body is permanently damaged because there’re certain movements I (still can’t) do.”
Her mother stepped in to care for both her and her children while she was immobilised, and her kids kept her company in the long days she was confined to the bed
“If not for them, I think I would go crazy. They would just come in the room, sit with me, play games and whatnot.”
Once she was discharged, Ms Maryam threw herself into rehabilitation, so that she could recover quickly, work again and care for her children, now aged five to 11
“My life is tragic,” she said, pausing before smiling wryly. “But I choose to see the good things out of it. I choose to see the reason why things happen
“It’s tough but I am so proud of myself, of what I’ve been through. That’s what drives me to do even better.”
BECOMING A “BADDIE”
Now 33, Ms Maryam has returned to her full-time job as a personal trainer.
Online, she goes by the moniker “GymBaddie SG” – drawing on the modern slang for a woman who is confident, stylish and unapologetically herself.
Growing up, however, she was not quite always the outspoken “baddie” she is today.
My divorce was a wake-up call to get my finances in order. The real test was when I had a brain tumour
The struggles of single parenthood
In primary school, she was bullied and called “slow” by peers, especially when she moved from a religious school to a mainstream school.
“My religious school didn’t have science (as a subject). So when I had to take a test, I failed and had to retain in Primary 5. Boys would always disturb me and call me ‘tortoise’.”
Such treatment sparked a competitiveness in her, especially when it came to sports. She took part in as many events and activities as she could, wanting to show up her bullies in 400m sprints and archery competitions.
The fifth out of six children, she became somewhat of a “wild child” in secondary school, finding herself largely unsupervised by her older siblings and parents. Her father worked as a technician and her mother was a cook.
At 17, she took up a customer service role at a gym near her home. After seven years working her way up in the industry, she realised her real ambition was to become a personaltrainer.
After giving birth to her first child at 22 and gaining around 30kg, she began working out consistently, piecing together what she could from trainers around her and teaching herself the rest in the gaps.
She got herself certified as a personal trainer and started working as one in 2022.
She was determined to help all her clients find a sense of belonging in the gym, but quickly developed a passion for a particular group: mothers like herself
MEETING “CIK ROSE”
Some of GymBaddie SG’s most popular videos online feature Ms Maryam training her own 73-year-old mother, Madam Rosemina Hamzah – affectionately known as “Cik Rose” to her followers
Whether in frame or behind the camera, Ms Maryam encourages and guides her mother through gorilla rows, goblet squats and deadlifts.
But perhaps, Ms Maryam’s biggest feat was getting her mother in the gym in the first place.
Mdm Rosemina retired in 2015 to help look after her grandchildren, but suffered a fall in 2023. Since then, she had been experiencing pain and mobility problems with her knees and felt more lethargic.
Last year, when Ms Maryam’s siblings suggested buying their mother a personal mobility device, she objected, fearing that it would only make their mother less active.
“I told my siblings, ‘Give me three months. Let me train her up. If it doesn’t work, let’s get her the aid that she needs’.”
Ms Maryam signed her mother up for a gym membership – much to Mdm Rosemina’s horror – and began training her in August 2025.
She started slow, with simple sit-and-stand exercises or moving up and down stepboards with help.
Eleven months on, the retiree, who stands at just 1.44m tall, has gone from having no experience or knowledge of physical fitness training to hitting a series of personal bests, including a 4km run, 70kg hip thrusts and an assisted deadlift of 67.5kg
Mdm Rosemina said: “I never thought that I would be in the gym like this.” Just a year ago, bowing and prostrating during prayer and carrying groceries home from the market were difficult for her
Watching one of their mother-daughter training sessions at the Anytime Fitness gym located within E!Hub in Pasir Ris, I could see Ms Maryam closely monitoring her mother’s form, checking her comfort level and steadying her through a slight stumble.
After a thorough warm-up, Mdm Rosemina grinned at me as she caught her breath and said: “She’s very strict. Whatever she asks me to do, I must do.
“But whatever I can do, I try to do. And so far, can.”
Later, while Ms Maryam was occupied with me, her mother continued her cardio workout – first on the treadmill, then on the rowing machine
By Ms Maryam’s reckoning, her mother is now moving better at 73 than many people in their 60s do.
Health and fitness goals aside, both mother and daughter are in agreement about the best part of this shared journey: spending precious time together.
“Last time, she was working morning to night with two jobs,” Mdm Rosemina said. “But now, when I go to the gym (three to four times a week), I can talk to her (about) whatever I want.”
Ms Maryam pulled her mother into a half-hug as she agreed: “This is also a gossip session. I always look forward to it.”
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A MOVEMENT IS BORN
In the past year, Mdm Rosemina has become a minor social media star. Her upbeat attitude has been winning her a growing number of fans among her daughter’s Instagram and TikTok followers.
They cheer her on for strength feats, including carrying two 16kg kettlebell weights over 15m – all part of her training for a Hyrox doubles event she plans to do with her daughter in November.
Mdm Rosemina has even been recognised in public a few times by strangers, some of whom have asked to snap a photo with her
Ms Maryam’s videos of her mother have prompted many seniors to reach out, asking how they, too, can get started doing cardiovascular exercises and strength training.
“Many people want to start moving. They just do not know that it’s possible. So when they see my mum, they know it’s possible.”
Ms Maryam added that in her experience, she hardly sees older Malays working out, especially compared to other demographics of seniors – and it saddens her
“There’s a lot of sickness, like diabetes and high cholesterol, among my (Malay community)
“I want to show everyone that it is possible for you to do this. If you are not confident to do it alone, we’ll do it together.”
Motivated by this, she reached out to other female trainers with similar goals, especially in the Malay-Muslim community. Thus, the “Moving with Ma-chics” movement was born – a play on the Malay word “makcik” meaning “aunt”, generally used to refer to older Malay women.
In June, the group hosted its first event: a walking club in the open area outside Marina Bay Sands, open to men and women of all ages.
In just three days, the allotted 50 slots were snapped up, with many others writing in to ask for more
Ms Maryam and her team designated three groups with different pacings: the speed walkers, the steady walkers and the “santai” walkers, after the Malay word for “relax”
As portable speakers played old-time favourites in English and Malay, including Top of the World and Cik Mek Molek, Ms Maryam noted that people in the groups were dancing and chatting animatedly as they walked with friends. The event was also graced by a surprise guest: Madam Rahayu Mahzam, Minister of State for Health and Minister of State for Digital Development and Information
Ms Maryam recalled many seniors expressing doubts at first about whether they could even reach the intended distance of 3km, but they powered through that goal easily.
“When we hit 3km, I was, like, ‘Auntie, you are lying to me. You can actually walk more’,” Ms Maryam said with a hearty laugh.
All of this has inspired her to start work on the next Moving with Ma-chics events, including walking trips across Singapore and future strength training workshops for beginners.
I want to show everyone that it is possible for you to do this. If you are not confident to do it alone, we’ll do it together.
Ms Maryam’s past brush with death has only sharpened her gung-ho, go-getter attitude to grab whatever opportunities she can to get closer to her dream of opening a gym that would be a “safe space” for people of all ages and helm fitness events to engage her community.
“Whatever you want to do, you gotta just (do) it. I’ve always believed in that, but (the accident) made me push it
“I always remind myself that the worst thing has happened. What else? Just (do) it.”
For most people, the term “baddie” conjures the image of an awe-striking but unapproachable woman. But really, Ms Maryam wants people from all walks of life to have confidence in training with her.
“It’s okay to start small. You do not have to be fit, you just have to be yourself. You just have to bring your dedication, your resilience and consistency.”
Indeed, it’s hard to imagine anyone interacting with Ms Maryam and not feeling personally inspired.
She even offered me workout tips when I confessed to being intimidated by strength training, and encouraged my photographer colleague on her recent endeavours to start running
“The fact that you think you want to start (getting fit), you’re already a ‘baddie’. Everyone has a ‘baddie’ in them.”
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This ex-gangster and school drop-out has fostered a loyal clientele at the gym he started from nothing
Source: CNA/ny/ml/sf
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