By Elysa Chen

THAT self-assured smile, that slight tilt of the head captivated The New Paper's photographer Gavin Foo so much he snapped her picture.

And when it appeared in the 'Heartland Hottie' series in The New Paper on Sunday in March last year, it was, for Miss Sai Fengmin, one of the happiest moments in her 26 years of life.

Now, that smile, frozen in a photograph, is all that's left for her mother.

Holding up the picture, a teary Mrs Sai asked: 'Isn't my daughter pretty? She was so proud and happy that she was spotted for your Heartland Hotties section.'

Miss Sai died in her sleep on Thursday.

It was a shocking end to an inexplicable turn of events that began a month earlier, when she knocked her head against a glass door.

The marketing executive was visiting a friend at her new home when she knocked into a glass panel between the kitchen and the living room.

She didn't know then, but that seemingly innocuous bump may have resulted in an undetected brain injury that led to her death a month later.

There were few tell-tale signs that it was anything serious. No nausea or giddiness - common symptoms of a concussion - within the first two weeks.

But on Wednesday, four weeks after the accident, Miss Sai had a headache and fainted at work.

She was then admitted to Alexandra Hospital, where she died in her sleep early the next morning.

An autopsy showed she had died of an acute brain haemorrhage.

Describing her daughter as the 'most special' of her five children, Mrs Sai said: 'When my colleagues at work see the picture of my children at my desk, they would keep talking about how pretty and special my Min Min was.'

Mrs Sai declined to give her full name or her occupation.

The first sign that all was not well came at 10am on Wednesday morning when Miss Sai fainted at work.

Mrs Sai, who got a call from her daughter's colleagues, rushed to the office.

'My daughter kept saying she felt very giddy and wanted to sleep. She also kept vomiting something chocolate-coloured,' she said.

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