Dubai: A Pakistani driver, who had been lying in a hospital in a vegetative state for more than two months, was flown home with the help of Gulf News readers.
Last month, Gulf News reported that 33-year-old Mohammad Ilyas, had been in coma following a cardiac arrest in April.
Following the report that included an appeal from Pakistan Association Dubai (PAD), Good Samaritans came forward to help clear the hospital bill as well as bear the repatriation cost.
Ilyas was flown to Islamabad on June 23 through a special arrangement on an Emirates airline flight along with a nurse and an attendant.
According to Rizwan Fancy, senior executive member of PAD’s welfare committee, Ilyas will continue receive treatment at Islamabad’s Brain Surgery Hospital, where he was admitted on Friday. “We have also made arrangements for his treatment back home,” he added.
Fancy thanked all people as well as the Pakistan Consulate General who came forward to help clear the hospital bill as well as meet other costs. He also thanked Gulf News for highlighting the issue.
“This is a great gesture by the people who contributed to this noble cause. Ilyas had been lying in the hospital for more than two months and since he was the only breadwinner of his big family, there was no way his family could pay the bill that was piling up. I want to thank everyone, especially the Pakistan Consulate General in Dubai, for making this possible,” said Fancy, who actively pursued the case from the beginning.
More than Dh95,000 was collected which included hospital bills and the stretcher cost as well as airline tickets.
“To accommodate the stretcher, the airline had to block six seats and then the tickets for a nurse and Ilyas’s uncle had to be purchased. We also paid the initial cost that needs to be covered in Pakistan,” said Fancy, while thanking Dubai Hospital for accepting the request for a discount.
Ilyas, who is from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, was the only breadwinner of his family until he had a stroke. He had worked in the UAE for seven years to support his mother and four younger siblings.
