UAE hospital helps repatriate Indian construction worker paralysed waist down

Ajman - Ashok Kumar, a 44-year-old carpenter, was able to fly home on Monday.

An Indian construction worker who was found lying paralysed in an abandoned building in Ajman in January has finally been repatriated home, a social worker in Ajman told Khaleej Times.
Thanks to the generosity of the Sheikh Khalifa Hospital in Ajman, which provided him free treatment, and the Consulate-General of India, Ashok Kumar, a 44-year-old carpenter, was able to fly home on Monday, said general secretary of the Indian Association in Ajman Roop Sidhu.
He said: "Ashok was found lying face-down in an abandoned building in Ajman on January 12. Some passersby called for an ambulance and he was taken to the hospital, where he had been under treatment since."
According to his medical reports, Kumar suffered from acute alcoholic pancreatitis, aspiration pneumonia and associated dehydration and nutritional deficiencies. He also had clinical features of delirium.
"He was paralysed waist down. His company was not willing to take his responsibility and had even filed an absconding case against him." The hospital and the association spent days trying to track his family down, only to learn that Kumar hails from an extremely poor family in a village near Jalandhar district in Punjab.
"His family did not want him since he was paralysed. They told me that they were in no position to provide him with any care," said Sidhu. He added: "When I first saw him in January, I did not think he would even survive. However, the hospital has taken very good care of him and brought him back to life."
After spending weeks in the intensive care unit, Kumar was transferred to the general ward. "When the pandemic broke out, he was then transferred to another hospital in Masfout Village in Ajman by Sheikh Khalifa Hospital," he added.
Today, Kumar can walk with the support of crutches. He flew to Amritsar on a special Vande Bharat Mission flight, for which the ticket was provided by the consulate. "The accompanying person was from our association and we also helped waive off some fines he had in his name," said Sidhu.
Kumar is now in a Covid-19 quarantine centre in Punjab. He told Khaleej Times: "I don't know what happened to me. I remember waking up at the hospital weeks later, and I do not know how I got here. My parents died a few years ago and I am divorced. I understand why the rest of my family did not want me because, in my earlier condition, they could not have taken care of me."
He said: "I can walk now and hope to find some small job. I want to thank the hospital, Indian Association and the consulate for saving my life."
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com 

• Ajman