Dubai: The waves on the heart monitor are steady, her pulse and blood pressure are doing all right for now. But Natalie Creane’s condition can change at any time.
Right now, the 33-year-old Briton is stable, in a medically induced coma in the Intensive Care Ward of Rashid Hospital. Slowly, though, her medical condition is deteriorating and has done ever since an accident in an Abu Dhabi hotel in July 2008.
On Sunday night, doctors chose to put Creane in an induced coma to stop the side effects of her brain injuries and a debilitating condition known as “post-traumatic intractable refractory epilepsy.”
The accident that caused it seemed innocuous enough. A shelf in the wardrobe where she was staying fell on her, knocking her unconscious.
In a recent court decision, Natalie was awarded Dh200,000. The hotel and its workers have never denied the accident took place.
But for her heart-broken parents and friends, the small award from the court is cold comfort for the reality of Natalie’s condition.
“My beloved daughter Natalie is lying in another induced coma in Rashid Hospital,” Natalie’s mother posted yesterday on Facebook. “This is the sixth time since the accident in the Kempinski-managed hotel in 2008 that my wonderful girl has been put in this life-threatening situation following terrifying seizures that will not stop.”
After going to the hotel for a weekend break with her husband Trevor and stepson, Natalie opened the door to the wardrobe to put shoes in. A loose wooden panel atop the wardrobe that should have been fitted to cover the audio visual unit fell, hitting her on the front of the head. A member of the hotel’s staff later found her unconscious in the room. More than three years later, Natalie’s condition is gradually worsening — with little prospect of real improvement.
“Today, I watched her as she fell into a coma, her face was grey — she could not speak, her beautiful eyes were unseeing,” her mother said.
“I could not believe that this was happening to her again. I watched as her broken-hearted dad helped the paramedics lift her onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. I sat in the ambulance and watched over my girl as it sped through the streets in this land so far from home. Now I must watch the face of her beloved husband as he returns from her side to try to rest. How much longer can my girl go through this. I am terrified that I may watch her die.”
For Creane’s devastated father, this case is about making sure his daughter gets what she deserves and putting a true value on her quality of life. “However good the verdict was, I felt totally distraught when told that the amount put on my beautiful daughter’s pain and suffering on a daily basis, many near-death experiences she has suffered and future health and welfare needs — was a mere Dh200,000,” Natalie’s father posted on Facebook.
Due to her deteriorating condition, doctors have said that Natalie will require surgery and intense radiation treatment that will use up a great sum of the money received.
“How do you let someone you have loved and cherished all of her life that the sum placed on all the hellish days, weeks, months and years — and on her life — was a mere [Dh200,000],” her father said.
Natalie’s family created a group on Facebook, “Justice for Natalie” to fight for her. Since the group was created, it has received 22,029 ‘likes’ and counting. As Natalie is a British expatriate, the Facebook group is helping bridge the miles between communities and brought her family a great amount of support and hope.
“I would also like to thank Natalie’s amazing friends for being a constant support for us all,” her father said.
But despite all the support in the world, Natalie faces a difficult road ahead, given her worsening condition and the nature of her treatment.
“Please someone explain to me why there are people in the world who feel this is the value of my little girls’ life and that she should continue to suffer in this way,” her father said.
— Maryam Mirza is an intern at Gulf News
