NADI ROAD ACCIDENT: WIFE TELLS HOW SHE SAW
HUSBAND, 49, TAKE LAST BREATH ON HIS HOSPITAL BED
My husband went to the hospital for the first time, and it was also his last. That was how Saira Khatun, 64, described her husband, Mohammed Rashid (Babbu), 49, who died early yesterday after an accident at Sabeto, Nadi, on Wednesday. “He never went to hospital for any treatment. This was his first and last time,” Ms Khatun said with a heavy heart. Mr Rashid was a delivery man for a market vendor at the Lautoka City Market. She said that they bade farewell before her husband left home for work on Wednesday. “Before he left home around 6am on Wednesday he said ‘Alaikum Salam’ and I replied ‘Salam Alaikum’ (Islamic greeting), not knowing that he won’t return home after that,” she said while holding back tears. Mr Rashid of Vaivai, Lautoka, died yesterday at the Lautoka Hospital. Before his death Ms Khatun said her husband seemed to be recovering because he was aware of his whereabouts. The doctor had told her that the husband’s legs sustained multiple fractures during the accident.
She went to her sister’s place near the hospital later, because everything seemed alright. However, she got a shock when she was called at mid-night that her husband’s pulse was dropping. At the hospital she was asked to wait outside the Intensive Care Unit, however she could see the monitor of the pulse machine. “I was right outside his room and I could clearly see the pulse meter. I saw his last heart beat on the machine before he died at 2am,” she said with great sadness. After the accident on Wednesday Mr Rashid was rushed to the Nadi Hospital and was transferred to the Lautoka Hospital later. Mr Rashid is survived by his wife and two sons, who live in New Zealand. The post mortem will be conducted today and the funeral may take place later this afternoon.