By Lediati Tan

THE treadmill was to give her a good cardiovascular workout.

It did that - and more.

It gave her the shock of her life when it sped out of control.

She then panicked - and fell flat on her face.

Now she has to overcome her fear of getting on that treadmill in the living room of her Bishan flat.

The nurse, who asked that we use only her surname because she feels embarrassed, bought the treadmill four years ago.

She used it three times a week for about half an hour each.

But on Sunday, Madam Kaur's treadmill went on a sudden overdrive.

It caused the 52-year-old to first fall on her knees before falling on her face on the machine, resulting in injuries to her knees and one of her left toes.

Said Madam Kaur, who had set the treadmill to a moderate pace and had walked on it for 20 minutes: 'Suddenly the motor went haywire and I couldn't stop it.

'Because of the sudden speed, I panicked and held on to the handles.

'I called for my son who was in the kitchen.

'Then (I remembered) to pull the safety (clip).'

But she fell as she pulled the safety clip.

Her son had to help her up.

Painful

She said: 'I never thought that this could happen. The speed was so scary. I couldn't sleep last night because it was so painful.'

She treated her own injuries.

She admitted that she did not put on the safety clip when she got on the treadmill, which is the recommended practice.

She claimed she had never fallen off the treadmill in the four years she had been using it.

She had been exercising on a treadmill at a gym for two years before she decided to pay $1,700 for one.

She said when she used the machine on Saturday, it worked fine.

She added that she would be scared when she has to use the treadmill again.

When The New Paper visited her at her flat on Monday afternoon, her son, Mr Rajesh Singh, 29, who is self-employed, showed us the 'runaway treadmill'.

The speed display on it was at 1kmh, but it was running at a much higher speed.

The treadmill has a speed range of 1kmh to 13kmh.

It did not stop immediately when the safety clip was pulled.

On Monday morning, her husband, Mr G Singh, a 55-year-old businessman, called the outlet where they had bought their Powerfirst LT1280 treadmill.

The supplier sent an engineer and a customer service officer to the flat to inspect the machine at 4pm.

A spokesman told The New Paper: 'There was a malfunction on the electronic control board.'

Also, she said, Madam Kaur did not put on the safety clip and lost her balance.

First such complaint here

She added: 'All treadmills in the market come with a safety clip which would stop the running belt immediately to prevent injury.

'So users are reminded and advised to put on the safety clip when they are exercising on any treadmill, be it at home or at the gym.'

The spokesman said that over 50,000 units of the same model have been sold worldwide.

This is the first such complaint in Singapore.

The model is an old one from four years ago and they no longer sell them, added the spokesman.

Mr Rajesh later told The New Paper: 'The engineer replaced the faulty part on the spot.

'He also told us to open up the board (on the front of the machine) and to vacuum the inside regularly.'

Madam Kaur and her son are satisfied with the response from the company.

'They handled it quite well,' said Mr Rajesh.

He added that his mother still wants to use the treadmill and will get on it once she is well enough.

'She's been assured it'll not happen again,' said Mr Rajesh.

This story was first published in The New Paper on Nov 12, 2008.