Lanka maid flies home after treatment for 3 yrs

The Ministry of Health waived her hospital bills of around Dh125,000 and even paid for her flight ticket.

The 39-year-old maid, who became 90 per cent paralysed after an accident in Shrajah in 2005, was transported on a stretcher from the hospital to Dubai International Airport around 4am yesterday.

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Accompanied by Sri Lankan Consulate officials and paramedical staff from the Kuwaiti Hospital, Regina was taken in an ambulance to the airport, where she boarded the flight to Colombo. She would later travel to her native place in Digana in central Sri Lanka.

Nurses from the hospital said Regina was both happy and sad to leave. “We are also really happy that she could finally be with her family after being here for so long,” said a nurse. Another nurse said they would really miss Regina a lot as she was a part of their family at the hospital.

Sri Lankan Consul-General Wasantha Senanayake told Khaleej Times, “We are very thankful and happy that the UAE health authorities waived her hospital bills and paid for the flight ticket. She will finally be back with her family. One of our officials has accompanied her and she will stay in Colombo for a day or two before an ambulance takes her home in Digana. The Sri Lankan Bureau for Foreign Employment will take care of her travel from Colombo.”

The decision on whether to keep her at home or admit her in a hospital again would be taken after consultation with doctors there.

The Consul-General said the bureau was considering footing the hospital expenses in Sri Lanka.

Lawyers in Dubai are also trying to get her a compensation of around Dh1 million for the accident.The Sri Lankan was hit by a speeding vehicle while crossing a road in Sharjah in July, 2005, after which she slipped into a coma. Her condition stabilised four days later after she underwent a brain surgery. She could not talk, but could only grunt a response and had been recuperating in the Kuwaiti Hospital since then.