UAE | Traffic and Transport
Shattered lives after traffic accidents in UAE
Grief, bereavement and a real sense of despair — road fatalities have a devastating impact on the families of victims. Some of them tell XPRESS how their lives changed irrevocably in a matter of seconds
- By Jay B. Hilotin, Chief Reporter, and Sharmila Dhal, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:00 December 16, 2010
- Image Credit: Supplied
- Nicole Pringle (left) is seen with Mark Pringle in an old photo.
'Last day at school'
Mohammad Shahnawaz still can't get over that fateful day in March last year.
It was March 17 to be precise, just two days after the Canadian's 25th birthday. His 23-year-old sister Suraya was lolling around at home, when her friend Ayesha dropped in and dragged her along for their final day in university.
Suraya, behind the wheels of a green Mercedes Benz sedan, was driving on the left lane of highway E11 in Ras Al Khaimah when a car on the opposite lane suddenly made a mistimed U-turn. In a bid to avoid crashing into the car, Suraya pulled sharply to the right - and to her doom.
She never saw the tree by the roadside... till it was too late.
So hard was the impact that her body was hurled out of the car, and left her with critical internal injuries.
Four hours later, Suraya breathed her last in the ICU of Saqr Hospital. And while Ayesha did survive, she ended up suffering from amnesia.
"It was a case of reckless driving and bad road design," said Shahnawaz.
For the record, the notorious E11 highway in RAK had the second-highest number of accidents in the UAE in 2008 resulting in death or injury.
The driver of the alleged offending car, a Frenchman, was jailed but released after three months.
Shahnawaz was devastated.
"I was heartbroken and did not know what to do. We wanted to know why it happened to us. Was it only us, or were there others affected by the same situation? I had so many questions in my mind."
It was these questions that led Shahnawaz on his new mission in life - a shock-and-awe drive to help make the country's roads safer. "Reading almost every day the accounts of accidents, I felt I had to do something about it."
To educate people on the horrors of speeding and reckless driving shahnawaz has started a website in her sister's name. it's called www.surayafoundation.com
'The pain is still intense'
It's been over a year-and-a-half now since Charlotte "Charlii" Louise Morgan died after she was sideswiped by a speeding 4x4 while crossing the road in Mirdif.
"The pain is still intense," her mother Nichola Morgan told the Suraya Foundation . "It does not get any easier but you learn to live with it. The only way I can describe the pain is that someone has stuck their hand into my chest and ripped my heart out, but I am still alive."
Charlii died on April 8, 2009, less than a month after she turned 15.
"The impact on our family is incredible. We are all trying to cope the best we can. As a mother, the worst thing is watching my other two daughters suffering, they ask why, why such a beautiful person with so much to give, had her life cut short? Unfortunately I have no answers as I struggle myself."
'He has gone forever'
Australian triathlon legend Mark Pringle taught hundreds of children in Abu Dhabi to swim. He created Triathlon Middle East and was swamped with offers of work. He had just created a team which was going to compete at an Ironman event in Australia.
On July 24, 2009, Mark met with, what police declared, a hit-and-run accident in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi. On that fateful Friday, Mark went out riding at dawn with two friends outside Abu Dhabi where there was no traffic. They were taking turns practising "fitness runs" by dropping back and then catching up at the front.
During the run, the two riders in front had stopped and were waiting for Mark when a car approached them and a man told them that he had seen Mark lying on the road. Mark suffered from just one injury - a severe blow to the back of his skull. He waged a battle against death for 36 long days, but ultimately succumbed.
"It remains exceptionally difficult to accept that he is no longer with my family," said Mark's wife Jennifer. "We know that he would be disappointed that he was unable to complete his work in the UAE although he remains with us in spirit."
"The support of the entire family was extremely important in helping to deal with the loss of my dad and knowing that he was doing something that he loved and was so passionate about also aided in a small way," said Mark's daughter Nicole.
His brother, Shaughan Pringle, said Mark truly did "live the life of 10 men." Shaughan said: "Lives have been shattered by his death and unanswered questions remain. The only real truth there is, is that Mark was a legend and his life ended on the roads of Abu Dhabi."
Unending trauma
It's six in the evening when fellow Emiratis Abdullah and Omar approach their desert destination on the outskirts of Dubai. Strapping themselves into a Polaris, a buggy-like vehicle, they are all set to take off when a speeding Camry hits them from behind.
There is little recollection of what happens thereafter as the duo are rushed to Rashid Hospital in an ambulance. Both are in the ICU. While Abdullah is being treated for abdominal injuries, Omar is battling for his life with severe head injuries.
Outside another room in the surgical ICU, an Emirati woman is reading a prayer book. "He is stable," she whispers, referring to her 18-year-old brother, a first-year law student. The car he was driving rammed into another car that was negotiating a U-turn from behind a water tank, she says, thankful that he is alive. "He will be undergoing surgery for his broken legs and arms," she adds.
As XPRESS gets exclusive access to tour the four ICUs and trauma wards of Rashid Hospital, the hub for the treatment of all accident cases in Dubai, it is evident there are many such stories where life for the patients and their families has changed forever thanks to speeding on the roads.
Dr Lama Yousef Al Ramahi, Clinical Coordinator of Case Management, says the hospital receives an average of around 15-20 RTA or Road Traffic Accident cases every day. This includes both minor and major cases with at least two to three being critical.
At the time of the visit, there were over 60 accident victims under various stages of treatment at the hospital.
Dr Lama said head and spinal injuries are the most common of all cases received with bone fractures and internal bleeding not far behind.
"Reckless drivers do not realise that the thrill of speeding is fleeting but its fallout can be catastrophic," she says, adding that the number of cases involving youngsters rises with the camping season in winter.
Injuries sustained due to unfastened seat belts, hands stretched outside moving vehicles and drunken driving are also common, she notes.
There are a number of cases involving pedestrians hit by speeding vehicles.
Rafia Kallankattu Moidu, an Indian housemaid in Ward 27, suffered a 40 per cent disability when she was hit by a "white car" while crossing the road at Al Ghusais on September 15.
"Two ladies came out of the car and gave me water to drink. Some men were talking on the phone in the background. That's all I can remember," she says, adding she is happy to be alive. Rafia is looking forward to being discharged from the hospital soon, but others are not as lucky.
Dalbir Singh, a 40-year-old Indian helper with a Dubai company in Ward 7, is in a vegetative state. He was rushed to Rashid Hospital in a helicopter on September 3 when he was hit by a car while crossing the Dubai-Sharjah Road. He suffered a brain haemorrhage. Three months down the line, he is still on artificial ventilation. His eyes are wide open but he stares into space, oblivious to what is happening around him.
Nobody knows who he is
The plight of an unidentified patient in Rashid Hospital could well be the story of many other "unknown" accident victims in Dubai. Believed to have been run over by a car on Al Diyafah Road, the man suffered severe injuries that have left him mentally disabled and unable to communicate. Police have sought public help to identify him. Call Bur Dubai Police Station on 04-398 1111 or Dubai Police Headquarters at 04-609 5555.
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