Mother recalls horror of gas cylinder blast
SIX MONTHS ON, MARIAM REVEALS DETAILS OF AL KHAIL GATE INCIDENT THAT CLAIMED HER MOTHER’S LIFE AND LEFT HER WITH SEVERE BURNS
Six months on, Mariam gives details of incident that claimed her mother’s life and left her with severe burns |
On August 24 last year, a cylinder blast ripped through the kitchen of Mariam Lokhandwala’s apartment in Al Khail Gate, grievously injuring her and her mother Shirin Gandhi, while miraculously sparing her three-and-a-half-monthold baby, Zahra, who was sleeping in the bedroom.
Mariam’s mother, who sustained 70 per cent third-degree burns, succumbed to her injuries, while Mariam suffered second and third-degree burns.
Soon after being discharged from the hospital in November, Mariam, 31, moved to her inlaws’ home in Mumbai, India, with her baby, for further treatment. In an exclusive telephone conversation with Mariam recalled her ordeal.
Recounting the incidents of that fateful morning on August 24, Mariam, who worked in a Dubai-based advertising agency, said: “I was sleeping late. It was three-and-a-half months after baby Zahra’s delivery and I had just returned from Mumbai. My mother, who had accompanied me to Dubai to help care for Zahra, wanted a cup of tea. So, around 11am, I got up and headed to the kitchen.”
The kitchen door, which she would usually shut at night to muffle the noise of the washing machine, would not open. “I had to apply force [to push it open],” she recalled.
As soon as she pushed the door open, a powerful blast shook the flat. “There was a huge noise and I was instantly numbed. I felt no pain at all. My mother was right behind me,” Mariam said. The blast ripped open the apartment’s front door and blew away some walls.
As Mariam lay stunned on the floor, she saw two men — her neighbours — rush in. Though she does not remember saying, ‘I am burnt, I am burnt,’ her neighbours later told her that she was crying out for help. She also asked them to help her mother, gave them her husband’s number, and told them her baby was in the other room. “I have no memory of pain. only remember my T-shirt being completely burnt and my neighbour offering me his shirt, but I could not remove my clothes, so he covered my mother and me with blankets,” Mariam said. “One of the men who ran into the baby’s room told me that he was shocked to see the bed on which little Zahra was, hanging precariously out of a gaping hole that was once a window. He rescued my baby who, miraculously, was unhurt and still sleeping.”
Mariam and her mother were rushed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Rashid Hospital. Her mother breathed her last a day later, on August 25.
Mariam was placed in induced coma for nearly 15 days.
“I had no idea to what extent I was burnt as I was on ventilator and induced sleep. My husband tells me that I would get up screaming ‘I am burning, I am burning’, but I did not feel any sensation,” she recalled.
Mariam had 50 per cent burns. Her arms and trunk had third-degree burns while her legs had second-degree burns. It was pure luck that her face had first-degree burns only.
Mariam was in the ICU for 30 days during which time she received three skin grafts, intensive physiotherapy, psychiatric treatment and psychological counselling. She was discharged in November, over three months after the accident.
Mariam’s wounds have healed but she has to wear pressure garments for the scars to heal. She remains grateful to the staff of Rashid Hospital, her neighbours and her Dawoodi Bohra community for their help.
She is, however, distressed by the attitude of the Indian mission in Dubai. “No one from the Indian Embassy or Consulate came to visit me at the hospital or contact my family,” she said.
After being discharged, Mariam was nursed by her husband, Hussain, who she calls her “pillar of strength”. Mariam, who is now under the care of a Mumbai hospital, has to undergo daily massage to stretch her scars.
Her husband, who works for an event management company, continues to provide financial support from Dubai.
“It will take around Dh50,000 for my treatment over two years,” she said.
For now, Mariam is taking life “one day at a time. Initially, I was afraid of fire and of stepping into the kitchen, but I am getting over that,” she said.
I had no idea to what extent I was burnt as I was on ventilator and induced sleep. My husband tells me that I would get up screaming ‘I am burning, I am burning’, but I did not feel any sensation.”