Bedridden stroke patient repatriated from Dubai to Kerala amid COVID-19
Consulate thanks hospital for waiving bills of driver on visit visa after he lost his job
Dubai: On Sunday, the Indian Consulate in Dubai tweeted that the mission was happy to help arrange the repatriation of Mohamed Panikka Veettil on a stretcher with a nurse as an escort.Sharjah: A 57-year-old man has been repatriated from UAE to India almost four months after he became bedridden due to stroke. On Sunday, the Indian Consulate in Dubai tweeted that the mission was happy to help arrange the repatriation of Mohamed Panikka Veettil on a stretcher with a nurse as an escort. He was flown to Calicut International Airport in the south Indian state of Kerala from Dubai.
The Keralite expatriate had lost his job as a bus driver in 2019 and returned to the UAE on a visit visa to look for a job in January 2020, said Neeraj Agrawal, Consul for Press, Information and Culture at the mission.
After the COVID-19 pandemic struck, he continued to stay here, hoping to get some job while the visit visas of people stranded in the country were extended till December 31. However, he suffered a stroke on October 1, 2020, and was hospitalised in Sharjah.
“His case was brought to our notice by the Indian Association in Sharjah. The hospital took very good care of him and also waived his bills. We are so grateful to the hospital and Sharjah authorities,” said Agrawal. He said when Mohamed became fit to be repatriated, the consulate assisted him with a stretcher ticket — which usually costs the fare for nine seats — and the escort of a male nurse.
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“We have been in touch with his wife. After landing in Kerala, he was taken to EMS Memorial Cooperative Hospital and Research Centre in Perinthalmnanna. We wish him speedy recovery,” the diplomat stated.
However, he reiterated that people should not come to the UAE on visit visas, looking for jobs.