Job loss leaves family grappling with bills
Expat lost his job, and has bank dues and medical bills of his injured son to clear
For nearly three years now, the Alberts have spent almost every waking minute tending to their adult son in long-term care. Their lives haven’t been easy, but the situation was complicated further when Neville Albert, the family’s breadwinner, lost his job earlier this year.
Now, with medical bills mounting and no relief in sight, the family is at a loss.
“I have lost track of the amount of money we owe. My son’s care at the rehabilitation centre alone costs Dh39,000 a month. Then, there are the outstanding bills at the hospital where he was first admitted after the injury, and with the banks from which we have borrowed to pay medical bills, and our rent payments are coming up. Amidst all this, I have been unemployed since January,” Neville Alberts, 55, a South African expatriate, told Gulf News.
Unexpected injury
Gulf News had reported in August 2019 how the Alberts were a regular family living in Abu Dhabi when in November 2017, Tristan, aged 18, suddenly slipped into a coma. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and respiratory failure.
Alberts said at the time that he had not been aware of Tristan’s use of unprescribed gym supplements.
He had been employed as a bodyshop manager at an automotive dealer, but was let go as part of what he was told was a ‘restructuring’.
“Because of the pandemic, I have not been able to find a job. The bills are continuing to grow, and I already owe the banks Dh300,000 as I had to borrow to fund Tristan’s treatment.”