Hospital bill of accident victim waived
umm al quwain — The hospital bill worth thousands of dirhams of a 27-year-old Indian national, Sajeer Kolathamkuyil, has been waived after special consideration from a team of doctors and senior hospital management at the Sheikh Khalifa Hospital in Umm Al Quwain.
The young man underwent a series of complicated surgeries, including a cranioplasty — a surgical repair of a defect or deformity of a skull — treatment for fractures, and several other procedures.
After the treatments that spanned nearly three months, Sajeer is expected to be discharged from the hospital today.
Sajeer was admitted to the hospital on August 14 after he and his older brother, Sajid Kolathamkuyil (32), met with a horrific accident that claimed Sajid’s life.
Sajeer sustained severe head injuries — including a fracture and profuse bleeding. Until the last week of September, he was suffering from a short bout of amnesia and had no recollection of the accident. He kept asking for his brother.
Hospital authorities said fluids in Sajeer’s brain were drained over time, and they had to wait for the swelling to subside to perform the cranioplasty.
Khaleej Times first reported Sajeer’s plight on September 2, a few weeks after the accident took place. After the crash, the brothers’ family
had lost all hope, and their mother Aysha Kolathamkuyil had resigned herself to the idea that she’d lost both her sons.
“The family could not be consoled. He was admitted at the Sheikh Khalifa Hospital for two
and a half months. He was in the ICU for a week. His mother assumed she had lost both her sons,” explained Siraj Ahmed, a shipping professional and Sajeer’s relative.
A team of doctors headed by Dr Sanjay Pawar, consultant neurosurgeon at the hospital, performed a cranioplasty and other surgeries on Sajeer. Speaking to Khaleej Times after the series of operations, Sajeer said: “I don’t remember anything after the accident. Everything is a blur … I realised my brother was no longer alive after relatives kept visiting me, speaking about him.” Sajeer said it was a hard truth to deal with and now he intends to go back to Kerala and rest for a while.
He added: “I am feeling better now. I have no memory of how I got here. The last thing I remember is taking things from the market to our car. I remember my brother was driving; I realised I was in the ICU only after I regained consciousness. I didn’t realise that my brother was gone, I found that out only recently.”
He said: “Now, I feel slight pains, and I can walk for a few moments.”
Siraj said: “Thanks to the efforts of the hospital, CMO Dr Zuhair Afnah, Dr Sanjay Pawar and the team that performed surgery on Sajeer. They saved his life. We are very grateful to them.”
Mohammed Fayis, another relative of the brothers, said: “His mom is back home. She is normal now, and the doctor has advised her to take a break.”
I have no memory of how I got here, and I don’t remember anything after. The last thing I remember is taking things from the market to our car.”
Sajeer Kolathamkuyil, victim