Imagine a situation where you know you are about to die. There is no hope and you are left with only visions of your last moments. The last words to loved ones just seem to be slipping away and they are only playing in your head. Yet, somewhere the fighter in you creeps up to pull you out of death and give you a new lease of life. Is it a miracle, only the survivor will tell.
Pakistani expatriate in UAE Mansoor Riaz Ahmad is one lucky man who was gifted a second lease of life and in an interview to Gulf News, he said the miracle happened and God was by his side.
Recounting the horrific incident, Ahmad said, he brushed with death, but defied odds to live and tell his chilling story. “It is a story of hope and will to survive, something that everyone should be ready with at any given time in their lives.”
On April 13, Ahmad, an IT professional working in Dubai was on his way to tackle the world's longest zipline in Ras Al Khaimah. Little did he know he would have to deal with a bigger challenge later.
“I was in Jebel Jais with 15 other colleagues from my company. It was a Saturday and we all had gone to do the Jebel Jais Zip Line in Ras Al Khaimah. We reached the top of the mountain at 10am. After I was done with my adventure on top of the mountain, I started to make way down the mountain. It was 2pm and raining.
“I was in my salon car. The road was flooded. I somehow managed to drive safely from the top of the mountain till the observation deck of Jebel Jais (number 7). Suddenly the force from the water swept my car away from the main road and into the valley,” said Ahmad.
The water began to flood inside the car. He sat in shock with his belt still on and water level up to his chest.
“I was sure I was going to die. There was no way I would come out of this mess alive. My car was going down and there was no hope for me,” recalled Ahmad with fear and the chills intact.
“I reached out to my mobile, which was floating around in the car next to me. I wanted to call my wife and tell her about my situation. It would perhaps be the last time I speak to her. But the phone had died. And so I shut my eyes and prayed. I surrendered myself to God. And the miracle happened.”
The force from the water pushed his car down the mountain but instead of going into a freefall, it went and perched on a massive piece of rock that was sticking out from the mountain. “My eyes were shut through all this and when I opened my eyes, I thought I had landed in another world. ght I had died. When I opened my eyes, I thought I had died and landed in another world. Soon I realised I was alive inside the car and perched on top of the rock. It was nothing but a miracle,” said Ahmad.
“I prayed and prayed the car would not be pushed off the rock.”
Somewhere when all this was happening, Ahmad’s seat belt unlocked itself. He was pushed to the passenger’s seat, hurting his knee and head in the process. But he managed to hold onto the handle bar for support. The good thing in all this however, was that the window panes broke and the water flowed outside the car. Still in shock, Ahmad sat still for a couple of minutes, afraid to move and unsettle the car.
“I spotted an iron bar sticking to the passenger door. A thought crossed my mind to use it to unlock the door. Voila! I did it. Carefully I put my feet on the piece of rock. I did not want to shake the car up in any way. After landing on my feet I stood still for a while. Slowly I gathered my thoughts and made my way to the main road.”
“When I reached on top, I was shaken up and sat on the main road for some time. I could not believe what had happened."
Visibly shaken and trembling, Ahmad sat there thanking God for his miraculous escape. One of his colleagues driving down the road, spotted Ahmad sitting on the main road. "He helped me get into his car. Due to the heavy rains and flooding, the roads were closed."
Ahmad and his colleague spent the night in the latter’s car. His car was mangled in the accident badly. “When my colleague saw the state of my car, he was shocked I had survived and was walking in one piece. We found a rest point and parked the vehicle for the night. Next morning at 6, we were rescued by an air ambulance and taken to a Ras Al Khaimah hospital.
Besides a ligament tear, Ahmad did not suffer any other major injury. I came out of the horrific incident pretty much unscathed. "Why am I telling the story? For people to know miracles happen and believe in them.”
