Dubai: An Indian worker from Bihar who has been in coma for 14 months at Rashid Hospital, has found a guardian in a social worker from Kerala.
Pradeep Sharma, 31, was flown to Kerala by Uma Preman, a social worker who runs a charitable institution, Santhi Medical Information Centre in Attapadi, Kerala.
Sharma had come to work with a wood industry company in Dubai in 2015. In July last year, he collapsed at his workplace after suffering an intracerebral haemorrhagic stroke and slipped into a coma.
He had been under treatment at Rashid Hospital since then. Though his company had been supporting his treatment, they could not continue indefinitely, said Dubai-based social worker Naseer Vatanappally.
Sole breadwinner
“He was the sole breadwinner of the family. His wife and parents said that they cannot afford to take him back home and treat him over there.”
It was through Vatanapally that Preman came across Sharma at Rashid Hospital in June this year. She is a regular visitor to the UAE.
Touched by Sharma’s plight, she decided to undertake the responsibility of his care and treatment.
“I have been doing social work and charity activities with the support of expatriates in the UAE and other Gulf countries. I felt this is an opportunity for me to give back to the expat community,” Preman told Gulf News in a telephone conversation from Kerala. “I will take care of him like my brother till the end,”
To facilitate his repatriation to her rehabilitation centre in Attappadi, she obtained a letter of consent from Sharma’s family. With the help of Vatanapally, Sharma’s company and the Indian Consulate in Dubai, she arranged his flight to Kerala on Wednesday.
Sharma reached the rehabilitation centre early yesterday. Dr Devprasad, a doctor who has volunteered to treat him, did a check-up on Sharma the same day.
“The doctor has said there is hope. So we hope to bring some change in his life. My aim is not to just prolong his life. I want to improve his health and bring him back to an active life. I will also support his family to be able to visit him and stay with him here for a few days,” said Preman.
She said her next aim is to take home the rest of Indian patients in a similar situation in the UAE. “I had seen some more patients who have been abandoned by their families. I wish to bring all of them back here and take care of them,” said the award-winning social worker.
Vatanapally said Preman has set a commendable example for others. “She is doing a great service. I hope she will get good support from benevolent people here and in India.”
A long history of charitable work
In 1997, Uma Preman founded the Santhi resource centre for those who seek medical information, treatment and financial assistance for crippling or life- threatening ailments after her husband’s death due to wrong diagnosis.
A recipient of over 150 awards, Uma donated her kidney to a youth in 1999.
Her centre has so far facilitated over 200,000 dialysis for the under-privileged, kidney transplants for 680 patients, (62 from the Gulf), and heart surgeries for 20,500 patients, (184 from the Gulf).
The centre has also mobilised more than Rs80 million for treatment of poor patients from the Indian government and charitable institutions in India.
