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19 March 2024

Dubai expat, who returned to life from post-mortem table, now struggles to live

Former Dubai expatriate Abdul Jabbar, who returned to life from the post mortem table. (Picture by Madhu Raj)

Published
By V M Sathish

An elderly expatriate Indian, who worked in Dubai for more than a decade, is passing through very difficult times, after a medical mistake over 30 years ago left him severely damaged physically.

It all started when Abdul Jabbar, a bio medical technician in Rashid Hospital in Dubai, was travelling by bus in India from Kerala to Mumbai to catch a flight to Dubai after vacation.

The bus in which Abdul Jabbar was travelling met with an accident. He was trapped in the engine of the bus which had collided with a truck. Two co-passengers died in the crash but he had a miraculous escape and landed in a private hospital in Pune.

“That bus trip from Kochi to Mumbai to catch the flight to Dubai was a disastrous turning point in my life. I was supposed to travel by another flight to Dubai but since my sister-in-law was travelling alone to Kuwait, I changed my flight schedule and ticket to Dubai on Kuwait Airways,” Jabbar told Emirates 24|7 over telephone from Mahe in Kerala, recollecting from his fading memory about an incident three decades ago.

“I was bleeding profusely and was unconscious after the accident. Nurses and doctors could not check my pulse and heart beat because of bleeding. After hearing about the bus accident, my brother came to the accident spot in Kharadi near Pune. My ‘dead body’ was kept in an air conditioned room of a private hospital. When my brother came, the hospital said the passenger is dead and that they will release the dead body after conducting a post mortem,” said Abdul Jabbar on phone.

Abdul Jabbar was initially declared dead by doctors at the hospital and his ‘body’ was taken to the post-mortem table for examination.

“Two other passengers travelling in the same bus had died in the accident and doctors at the hospital perhaps assumed that I too was dead. In order to split open my head as part of the post mortem, the duty doctor hit heavily with a hammer on the left part of my skull, which caused loss of sight in his left eye and partial loss of memory. The mark of the hammer’s hit is still visible on my left temple. When the doctor stuck my head with the hammer, my hands moved slightly because I was still alive. The doctor got scared and fled when he realized that I was not dead. Fortunately they did not split open my heart or stomach and I am alive now.

“As I was profusely bleeding, the nurses could not check my pulse rate or heartbeat. They assumed that I was dead and placed me with the other dead bodies. I don’t know whether the doctors were in a hurry to complete the postmortem and release my body for burial back home. Three days after the hammer hit on my skull, I was discharged from the hospital. Till now I did not get any compensation for the road accident that cost me my job in Rashid Hospital. Even though life was never normal again, I tried to come back to Dubai and rejoin the job but I could not get the same job as I had lost one eye,” the unfortunate victim recollects.

Doctors doing post-mortem examinations use a hammer to break open the skull and a chisel to break open the vault of the skull. They also use ropes to tie the dead body to prevent it from moving. They use saws and blades to cut through tough bones, a brain knife and many other medical tools.

“The doctor changed the date of the accident in the medical report, causing a lot of problems for me later in my fight for compensation. There was no one to argue for me in court. I cannot walk, work or lead a normal life now. I was 42 years old then. I am now living half dead with one eye and lost memory,” Abdul Jabbar told Emirates 24/7 on phone.

The former Dubai expat has been leading a miserable life since then. “Sometimes I have to beg for money to survive,” he said, adding that some of his relatives are working in UAE and Saudi Arabia.

K Viswanathan, a journalist with Mathrubhoomi, a leading Malayalam daily newspaper, reported the sad story of Abdul Jabbar on Sunday.

Abdul Jabbar hails from Kappalandimukku, Karakkadavil in Mattancherry but now lives in Mahe. “What he needs is financial help and not sympathy,” said a friend of Jabbar.

“After a Dh 3000 plus monthly job, I got a poorly-paid job when I returned to Dubai accident. I worked about ten years in Dubai, started a business which failed and returned home. Sometimes I can feel some strange sound in my head and I am scared of hammers now.

“I need help to continue to live. I have come back to life from the postmortem table. Please tell the expatriate community there to help me. Many of them know me but nobody is willing to help. Even my close relatives who work abroad are unwilling,” Abdul Jabbar said.

“After three years, the case will not be accepted in court. Even if it is a case of medical negligence, the complaint should be made within three years. Even in cases where a judgment is issued, the case will be valid only for twelve years. Ignorance of law is not an excuse. In such cases, the victims should consult a lawyer and fight the case within three years,” said Advocate Shamsudeen Karunagapally of Al Kabaan Advocates and Legal Consultants Dubai.