Ailing employee feels safe as ever in hands of his leader
PRESIDENT HAD SURPRISED EXPAT WITH HOSPITAL VISIT AS CROWN PRINCE
It has been around threeand-a-half years since Indian expatriate Mullapalli Ali Komukutty, 61, received what he considers the biggest reward of his life — a surprise visit by President His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2018, who was then the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, while Komukutty was in hospital.
When people across the country are showering their love and respect on Shaikh Mohammad on becoming the third President of the UAE, Komukutty, who had worked for Shaikh Mohammad, has many reasons to feel proud and indebted too.
The hands that held his and consoled him while he was on his hospital bed are still providing for Ali and his family.
Though he used to regularly meet Shaikh Mohammad and had accompanied him on official trips, Shaikh Mohammad visiting him at his hospital bed was something that amazed Komukutty. Apart from the “rare honour” that he received when he was under treatment after a brain surgery, Komukutty and his family continue to receive all the benefits that they used to get while Komukutty was employed at the palace of the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi for 30 years.
As reported by Gulf News, Shaikh Mohammad’s visit to Komukutty and two other patients at Cleveland Clinic on December 27, 2018, was deemed a manifestation of the generosity of the UAE’s leadership in ensuring the welfare and happiness of Emiratis and expat residents.
Komukutty’s son Naseeb revealed that Shaikh Mohammad’s kindness did not just stop with a visit and enquiry about his father’s health and the arrangements for his treatment necessitated by a blood clot in his brain.
“After his hospitalisation, my father had to undergo physiotherapy and he still goes for regular checkup. He was told not to go to work. Yet, he has been receiving all the benefits, including his salary, visa and medical insurance for my parents,” Naseeb told Gulf News. He added that the Crown Prince Court always ensured that help was just a call away.
“We don’t let him sit idle at home. We take him wherever we go. But when we were not around, they [the Crown Prince Court] had sent a car to take him for his checkup,” said Naseeb.
Komukutty, who lives with his wife, three sons and their families — including five grandchildren — said he was indebted to the beloved leader and wished him every success in leading the country to further progress. “Shaikh Mohammad will always have all the prayers and blessings of the people of this country.”
Shaikh Mohammad will always have all the prayers and blessings of the people of this country.”
Mullapalli Ali Komukutty | Indian expat