Dubai: Imagine the person you love most in this world. Now, imagine watching that person fade away right before your eyes even as you are unable to do anything to help. That nightmare has come real for Natalie Creane’s parents.
For nearly five years, the health of the British office worker has been steadily declining. Currently she’s in a medically induced coma at Rashid Hospital in Dubai — fighting for her life — with little hope of ever recovering fully.
Angela Smith and her husband Derek have been by their daughter’s side all these years and have endured the misfortune of seeing her condition get progressively worse. They’re now broke, tens of thousands of dirhams in debt and just have one wish — to see their daughter get better.
“If she walked into this room right now she would light up this room,” Derek said. “She was giving and kindhearted. She was the kind of person that didn’t only care about having a good life for herself, but giving a good life to others.”
So what happened?
In 2008, a wooden wardrobe panel fell on Natalie’s head, knocking her unconscious. Since that innocuous event at an Abu Dhabi hotel, Natalie has never been the same.
The 33-year-old has been in and out of hospitals for treatment for post-traumatic intractable refractory epilepsy. It’s a condition that causes major seizures that can strike anywhere and any time. When struck down by a seizure, Natalie loses all independence. And every time they happen, her condition deteriorates further.
Before the accident, Natalie was working for an American company and doing very well. She had just been promoted before the July 2008 weekend getaway with her husband Trevor.
After the accident, she couldn’t focus on work. She lost the ability to read and write. She lost her job. She couldn’t drive. She can’t even bathe on her own.
“She said to me one day: ‘Mum, I just want to take a bath’,” Angela told Gulf News. “I asked her if she was sure and then stepped outside to give her privacy. She tied the chain of the plug around her foot, just in case. I stood by the door and when I hadn’t heard anything for a moment, I went in. She was submerged in the water — drowning and seizing.”
Now, Natalie can’t be on her own in case she has a sudden seizure. Her parents have left home in England to be by her side and care for her.
“We’ve lost our jobs, our livelihood,” Derek said. “We can’t even afford to save our daughter and she’s running out of time,” he said.
In late February, a court awarded Natalie Dh200,000 in compensation for the incident. But her parents say it’s too little too late and are appealing the case.
Because Natalie is a resident of Dubai, she is only entitled to emergency treatment in the UK — and can only be treated if she is having a debilitating seizure. Regular treatment in Britain for her condition is too expensive to afford, so she’s staying in Dubai. But her treatment is expensive and all her close family members have gone into debt paying her hospital bills.
A single procedure for her condition costs Dh70,000. And the drugs needed to control her condition are toxic — affecting her body’s ability to cope. Last Sunday, she collapsed in a major seizure and the only way to end it was putting her into a medically-induced coma. She’s improving — but only slightly. And the long-term prognosis isn’t good.
The seizures cause more damage to her brain and health every time she suffers one, Derek said. There are treatments in the United States that offer better results for her injury, but they would be too expensive for the family.
“Imagine having to watch your child lose the light in her eyes and not be able to do a thing,” Derek said.
Angela and Derek are angry over the way their daughter and her case has been handled.
Gulf News contacted the corporate head offices of the Kempinski Group in Geneva, Switzerland. They referred the case to the regional offices in Dubai. There, a spokeswoman for the company — it manages the Abu Dhabi hotel property where the incident occurred — said the company could not comment as the court case is still under review. Until legal proceedings are finished, it won’t be commenting on the matter.
“This should have never gone down the legal route,” Derek said.“The defendants that were found guilty could have just settled this outside of court right when it had happened. We haven’t even gotten an apology from them. We could have gotten the best treatment for Natalie,” he said.
“If they had given us their support, we could have gotten her the best treatment. She’s been deprived of that right. She’s deteriorating and we don’t know if she’ll survive.”
At times, words fail Natalie’s parents. “I held Natalie’s head in my hands as she was in a coma,” Derek said, fighting back tears. “I couldn’t believe I couldn’t do anything for my daughter.”
What the family can take solace from is a network of supporters who are doing anything and everything they can to help.
“Natalie’s army,” Derek says.
At the front line are her closest friends and around them are thousands of supporters that heard Natalie’s story and joined the family’s struggle. From 150-kilometre walks to donations on the Facebook group “Justice for Natalie”, Natalie’s army is helping.
At the moment both sides are waiting for the written judgement to be translated from Arabic to English. Natalie and her family will be appealing the decision relating to the compensation awarded on February 27.
At the moment, Angela and Derek just want to imagine their daughter the way she was.
Maryam Mirza is an intern at Gulf News
