A bedridden Indian woman has been struggling to cope with a dislocated bone disc, which is weakening her bones and causing great pain, by taking just pain killers and hopping from place to place as no one wants to share their house with her.
Indian social workers have been taking her often to the emergency departments of hospitals after she collapses in severe pain. Her passport is held by a driving school that employed her as a driving instructor.
When she filed a complaint with the Labour Ministry, the driving school filed an absconding case against her and refused to return her passport.
“For the last two years, I have been unable to find work and my health is deteriorating. I cannot stand or move around. I am almost bed-ridden. I cannot afford to pay for medical treatment of my dislocated bone disc and spondylitis. I feel pain all over the body and doctors just prescribe pain killers. Due to my condition and the absconding case filed by my employer, I cannot find a job or even a sharing accommodation,” said FM, told ‘Emirates24|7’.
“Continued treatment needs an MRI scan and surgery. I have severe back and leg pain and swelling. Doctors are advising physiotherapy, but I don’t have the money,” she said.
She was taken to the emergency section of Kuwait Hospital, Sharjah and Rashid Hospital, Dubai, but she could not be admitted in both the hospitals due to her legal status. “Nobody would allow me to stay with them because of the absconding case,” she told this website.
Even the social workers cannot help her because helping an absconding employee can attract huge fines. She is reluctant to reveal her full name, fearing social stigma back home.
More than 40 years old, she came to the UAE about two years ago after spending Dh15,000 to work as a driving instructor for a Dhaid-based driving school which agreed to give her a job. However, she could not take up that job because she did not have a manual driving licence. She only possessed an automatic driving licence.
“Indian social and community groups have been helping me to buy pain killers since I don’t have money to continue treatment,” she told the website. “I came to work as a driving instructor, but my UAE driving licence was only for driving automatic vehicles.
“I have been told to get a manual driving licence and a driving instructor’s licence to get paid as a driving instructor. Though I did not have money, I paid for 10 classes. After attending nine classes, I could not continue. For almost two years now, I am unemployed and living with the help of social workers. I did not get even one month’s salary, even though I was made to sign a salary voucher for one month worth Dh2,500,” she said.
“In Deira near the Union metro station, I was trying to help a small boy who was about to fall down. Suddenly, my disc relocated and now I am almost bedridden,” she said.
She suffers from a painful degenerative disc disease caused by compression of the nerve roots. As the discs between the inter-vertebral bodies wear away, the entire spine becomes less flexible. As a result, the patient complains of back pain and stiffness, especially towards the end of the day, according to medical experts.
“For further treatment I have to take an MRI scan and other tests. How do I find the money? Thanks to the Indian social workers, I am fighting the pain with various brands of pain killers,” she said.
An Indian social worker who takes care of the sick woman said: “She suffers from a chronic disease that needs further treatment back home. It is very expensive here and she could not be admitted in both Rashid and Kuwait Hospitals. Nobody would share their room with her because she cannot withstand the cold breeze from an air conditioner.”
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