Chance encounter with Iraqi family in Abu Dhabi changes Indian's life

Deaf and dumb since the age of four, 48-year-old Mohammed Ali, an Indian expat employed with a relocation company in Abu Dhabi, is today the happiest man around.

A chance encounter with an audiologist family while he was engaged in house shifting work on Hamdan Street in the UAE capital eventually resulted in him partially regaining his hearing and returning to the world of sound, after more than four decades of a totally silent life.

Ali, who lost his hearing and speaking abilities when he was 4-years-old due to a childhood ailment, came to the UAE to work for Delight International Movers.

Ali was given the job of arranging kitchen utensils and fragile glass items when families relocate due to patience and care required.
He worked for hundreds of clients over the past 16 years, but one assignment that totally changed his life came last month, when he was packing the kitchen for an Iraqi family living in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking about the ‘miracle’, Dileep Kumar, Quality Manager of Delight International Movers, said: “We received an order to shift household items of an Iraqi family living on Hamdan Street. As usual, Mohammed Ali was working in their kitchen, arranging their glasses and plates.

“The woman of the house an accountant working for the Emirates Audiology Centre and Laboratories, tried giving instructions to Mohammed Ali but he did not seem to be listening to her.

“Initially, she was furious when there was no response from the worker. Then she noticed that he was communicating with colleagues in sign language. Other workers informed her that he cannot speak or hear anything,” said Dileep.

Fortunately for the worker, the lady’s husband happened to be an audiologist who runs a specialised clinic for hearing and speaking aids.
It was this couple who opened the world of sound to the man who had lived almost all his life without hearing anything.

Says Amjad M Ali Yazdi, Managing Director of Emirates Audiology Centre and Laboratories and husband of the lady, who helped the worker to come back to the world of sound: “After examining his eardrums, I found that his left ear drum was not working at all but the right one was working partially.

“With the help of a hearing aid that I have programmed for him, he can hear partially now.
“It is sad that he did not hear anything for the past 40 years due to negligence by his family or because of poverty.

“If he had been taken to a specialist doctor, his life could have been different. Now that he is able to hear partially, he will start picking up new words and develop his speaking skills too,” said Yazdi.

The worker and his colleagues in Delight International Movers are moved by the Iraqi family’s gesture that changed their co-worker’s life.
Yazdi added that he believed it was his duty to help a poor worker regain his lost hearing capacity when the case was brought to his notice during Ramadan.

Mohammed Ali can now hear the horn of vehicles while crossing the road, and can also hear his wife, daughter and colleagues.
“I am happy that he is able to hear now. We did not take any money from him. I am sad that we could give him only one hearing aid because only one of his eardrums is working partially.

“Many people like him ignore such problems that result in total loss of hearing,” said Yazdi.
Age is an important factor in regaining hearing, says Yazdi, adding that it is easy to treat young people but as the patient grows older, recovery becomes difficult.

He said he’s known cases in which people regained their hearing capacity after 10 or 15 years, but success in this case was unique.

Mohammed Ali has now started listening music on his mobile phone and has started chatting online with his wife and children and is preparing to go on vacation to hear his wife, children, relatives and friends, in person, for the first time in his life.

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