Abu Dhabi: A little over two years after he came to the UAE with dreams of providing his family with a good life, 47-year-old Sreekumar V. Kuttan Pillai lies in a hospital in Abu Dhabi, paralysed from the neck down.
On June 28, he was returning to Dubai from a working visit to Abu Dhabi, when the company truck in which he was travelling was involved in an accident. Sreekumar was rushed to a hospital in the capital where he underwent surgery for his injuries but his spine was too severely damaged to be repaired.
Today he lies in his hospital bed, a mass of tubes connected to various parts of his body that enable him to breathe, eat and drink.
His wife Jayanthi, who was informed in India of her husband’s accident by a relative in the UAE, and flown to the UAE to be with him thanks to the generosity of a group called Musaffah Art Society (MAS), sits by his hospital bed as he manages a weak smile at her occasionally. When he speaks, there is no sound due to the oxygen tube that has been inserted in his throat.
“He was a painter in India and didn’t earn much. He came here to save money to build us a house in India and pay for a good education for our two girls,” said Jayanthi.
Sreekumar was working as a labourer in Dubai.
Neither Jayanthi nor Sreekumar are aware of the permanence of his spinal cord damage. This information has been withheld from them because of the extreme shock Jayanthi suffered when she saw her husband lying in the hospital and her subsequent precarious state of mind and Sreekumar’s extreme depression after the accident.
Shaila Samad and Santhy Ramesh, members of All Kerala Women’s Colleges Alumni (AKWCA) which does social work in the community, have been trying to find ways to help this devastated family manage their life when they return home to Thiruvalla in the state of Kerala where Jayanthi works as an assistant in a bakery where she earns Rs5,000 (about Dh280) a month.
“How can we tell them the truth here?” says Santhy, a member of All Kerala Women’s Colleges Alumni who has been helping the family. “What is the point of upsetting them here? It is different when you are with family but here they have no one [to provide them with moral support],” she said.
“At the moment, they are under the impression that with some physiotherapy and constant care, his condition will improve,” added Shaila.
According to Anil, of MAS, before Sreekumar was told that his condition would improve, he was severely depressed, would cry constantly, bite himself and shake his head uncontrollably.
The couple is due to return to India tomorrow, where Sreekumar is to be admitted at the Indo American Hospital in Viakom, Kerala. The hospital fee is believed to be around Rs7,500 (about Dh410) per day.
Some members in Sreekumar’s family, such as his brother, are aware that he will require full-time care for the rest of his life. It is expected that Sreekumar and Jayanthi will learn of this reality when he is admitted to the hospital in India.
“I am thankful for the support I have received from the hospital and the nurses here. I am also thankful to the Indian embassy, which has been in touch with us regularly,” Jayanthi said.
