Sharjah: The three-year-old Emirati boy, who was injured during an amusement park ride during the Sharjah Water Festival, is still in critical condition in hospital, Gulf News has learnt.
Khalifa Obaid Al Zayodi is undergoing treatment at the Al Qasimi Hospital in Sharjah after he suffered severe brain injuries in a freak accident on December 18 when his head was struck in a spinning part of the ‘Crazy Fire’ ride area during the Sharjah Water Festival in Al Majaz Park.
Al Zayodi has still not regained consciousness and has not been able to breathe well enough to be taken off the ventilator, doctors at the hospital said.
Dr Satish Krishnan, senior Neurological surgeon at Al Qasimi Hospital, told Gulf News that although the boy is getting better, his condition is still critical.
“His condition continues to remain critical. There is a lot of damage to the brain,” Dr Krishnan added.
The boy continues to be fed through a tube. “At this stage, we are just hoping that his body reacts to the treatment. He continues to remain unconscious. There was some movement in his body recently. Otherwise, he continues to remain on the ventilator. He did breathe in between but it was not enough for him to be taken off the system,” added Dr Krishnan.
An X-ray was taken of the boy’s head last week to determine his condition. The boy will need a longer time to recover, Dr Krishnan added
The boy’s father, Obaid Al Zayodi told Gulf News he hopes to see his son out of the Critical Care Unit (CCU) and recover as soon as possible. “Representatives of Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA), are coming and asking about the health of my son and they were following up his case,” he said.
An official at SCTDA said that they were following up the boy’s condition.
The police are also following the case with the company and its staff who were responsible for setting up the rides.
