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28 March 2024

Road-roller crushes Indian's feet and dreams

The company has not paid him any compensation and Vijay Kumar his fighting a legal case to win compensation from the insurance company (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Anjana Sankar

Bound to his wheelchair, Vijay Kumar waits for his roommates to come back from work in the evening to lift him to his bed. Handicapped for life and unable to tend to his basic needs, the 43-year old carpenter from Punjab who lost his right leg and his left feet in a road accident last year faces a bleak future.

Spending the whole day in a crammed room in his labour camp at Mussaffah in Abu Dhabi, Kumar says his dream of earning a decent living has ended with the accident. “I cannot work and look after my family anymore. I myself am dependent on others now for the rest of my life,” he said.

Kumar came to the UAE eight years ago and was working as a carpenter when he met with the accident. “I was returning to work after lunch last December when the road roller hit me from the back and my right leg got crushed under the wheels. I tried to save my left leg but the wheels ran over my feet,” Kumar said.

He underwent a surgery at Mafraq Hospital but doctors had to amputate his right leg. The worker has steel implants on his left feet but doctors have said that it would take months before Kumar can use his leg.

The company has not paid him any compensation and Kumar is fighting a legal case to win compensation from the insurance company.

[The company can claim insurance...read the latest ruling by Dubai Court]

Kumar said he is coping up thanks to his kind and supportive roommates who help him with his daily chores. “They take me to the bathroom early in the morning before they leave for work. In the afternoon, someone at the camp will come and give me lunch and offer their help if I need something. Likewise in the evening also, I depend on my friends once they are back in the room after work,” said Kumar.

Kumar is surviving on the monthly salary of Dh550 his company continues to pay him. He is able to send money to his family who does not know of his plight yet. Kumar says his three children are running the household as his wife is also unfit to work after a back injury.

Dubai acid-attack mom fights on for 10-month old baby

It’s been nearly two weeks since Sri Lankan Nilakshi Priyadarshana’s life came to a grinding halt. The 22-year-old suffered third-degree burns when a drain acid bottle that was placed on top of the fridge accidentally fell on her.

She has already undergone two skin grafting surgeries and is scheduled for one more this week. Her husband is unsure of how many more surgeries she will require for complete recovery. However, she is determined to fight it out and recover at the earliest for their 10-month-old baby.

The incident occurred on April 21, when Nilakshi was cleaning the kitchen, while her husband, Prasad, was playing with their 10-month-old in the corridor of their one-bed Karama apartment.

“I heard her screams and rushed inside to see her crying in pain. Her head, face, chest and left hand were severely burnt… even her T-shirt was burnt,” he recalled.

According to Roshini, project manager at Karama Kanteen, that’s part of Volunteer in Dubai, Prasad too suffered minor burns while trying to hold her during the trip to Rashid Hospital. “I did spot burns on his arms and he told me that even his clothes got burnt,” she added.

The acid bottle, which the couple had purchased to declog their kitchen drain six months ago, was initially placed in the balcony, but was shifted to the fridge top so that their baby couldn’t access it.

“The baby had some eye infection and the parents were asked to expose the child to sun light as part of the treatment. This is why they moved the bottle out of the balcony,” explained Roshini.

Although the paramedics arrived on the scene, within minutes after Prasad made the emergency call, Nilakshi’s skin was severely damaged by the time she was admitted to the burns unit in Rashid hospital.

Prasad, who works as an office boy on a monthly pay of Dh4,000, doesn’t have medical insurance to support her treatment and is struggling to gather funds to pay the room charges of Dh 150 per day, surgeries, doctors’ fee and medicines.

Nilakshi has already undergone two skin grafting surgeries and is scheduled for one more this week. Prasad, however, has not been handed any bill till now.

“The hospital staff said the bill will be ready after the treatment,” he said, adding he’s unsure about how many more surgeries will be needed for her complete recovery. He added that there’s also need for plastic surgery, but Prasad isn’t focusing on that just yet.

“I just want to her to be treated for the burns so that she can return home to our baby, who she was nursing until then,” he said.

Prasad’s mother has come in from Sri Lanka to help them, as Nilakshi lost both her parents to cancer. Despite being bandaged up and unable to speak, Roshini claimed that Nilakshi’s spirit remained undamaged. “She is determined to fight back and come out of this ordeal for the sake of her baby,” she reported.

8-year old Dubai boy battles brain tumour for life

An eight-year-old Indian boy who was constantly complaining of back pain and eye problems is now battling for life at Rashid Hospital, Dubai, while his family is seeking help to meet medical expenses.

Doctors were treating him for short sight and even increased the power of his lenses and prescribed medicines for back pain. Unfortunately the correct diagnosis came way too late for the child who is now in a critical state suffering from brain tumour.

The youngster's father, Sunil Kumar - an employee of Rich and Famous in Al Qouz - told 'Emirates24|7' that neurosurgeons have advised immediate surgery.

“Sourav is a third standard student of Indian High School Dubai. We never realised that he was suffering from such a serious ailment. He used to complain about severe back pain and eye problems and we consulted several doctors, who treated him for short sight. The power of his glass was enhanced recently, after we consulted a doctor in the city. In the last two months, he has been very weak and frequently vomited. We took him to a clinic, where he was treated for vomiting," said Kumar.

"Only a couple of days ago when the boy resumed severe vomiting and collapsed the family rushed him to Al Wasl Hospital, Dubai. Later a CT scan was done at Al Rashid Hospital and he was diagnosed with brain tumour."

The shocked and sad father said: “We could have diagnosed his disease earlier, had we took his back pain complaints more seriously. He told us that the backpain could be because he was carrying a heavy school bag.”

His mother Vijayalaxmi, housewife, is equally shaterred.

Souav's classmates and friends have also arranged a fund-raising campaign.