UAE | General
Solace for paralysed mother
palestinian family will receive government help to meet expenses of a carer.
- By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:27 November 22, 2008
- Image Credit: Atiq-Ur-Rehman/Gulf News
- Reem in hospital with her twins Gassan and Bisan and her mother Umm Ramzi.
Dubai: Reem will probably never cradle her twins. She will probably never speak or smile again. And as she lay paralysed, all her mother could dream of was to offer her daughter care.
But that seemed a distant dream for Umm Ramzi, a Palestinian, who could not afford to sponsor a carer for her daughter Reem.
But now all that has changed. Solace has come in the form of Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Interior, who has said the family will receive all the help it needs.
"It is a human case. Such cases must be taken into consideration. Help must be offered to them," Shaikh Saif told Gulf News, which first reported Reem's story about three years ago.
Shaikh Saif said the UAE has always helped those in need. "Every effort must be made to help those in trouble, no matter who they are, or where they come from," he said.
And for the first time in nearly three years, Umm Ramzi's tears were of joy.
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"I am very grateful to Shaikh Saif. Today, I feel joy. The pain that has torn me apart has ebbed. Reem will get a carer. I thank Shaikh Saif for his generosity. Despite all our suffering, we always had trust in the UAE and its people," Umm Ramzi said.
Reem, a doctor, who delivered twins in February 2006, remains bed-ridden with severe brain damage in Al Qasimi Hospital following complications resulting from a caesarian section. Delay in treatment and lack of proper equipment at Al Qasimi Hospital led to Reem's paralysis and coma.
The family's torment continued after the hospital asked Reem's mother to take her daughter home, as they needed the bed for another patient. The family's nightmare worsened when they needed a carer for Reem, but Umm Ramzi could not afford one.
"I have paid many visits in the past three years to the Sharjah Naturalisation and Residency Department to try to sponsor a carer for my daughter, but I was told that I cannot as I need to pay a huge amount of money," she said.
Umm Ramzi said she will never forget Shaikh Saif's humanity and generosity.
"We are ordinary people, but Shaikh Saif has stood by us," Umm Ramzi said. "I am very thankful to all the people who have supported us through our ordeal."
Umm Ramzi said her daughter's twins, Gassan and Bisan, are now nearly three years old, but they have not felt the love and tenderness of their mother. And they probably never will.
"My daughter is paralysed and can only blink her eyes. Reem was a healthy and strong woman. My precious daughter has become a ghost," Umm Ramzi said.
Umm Ramzi has finally found peace, thanks to Shaikh Saif's generosity.
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