rejected SR2.4 million in compensation awarded to her by a special committee of the Health Ministry.
“I am not interested in money,” said a tearful and distraught Halima Muzzamil Hussain, an Ethiopian national whose
husband works in Makkah in the hospitality industry. “My
son, Mohammed Abdul Aziz Yahya, walked into the hospital
on his own feet on a February morning in 2006. He was four
years old and full of life. Full of spirits and cheerful. I want
my son back on his feet.”
Halima clings to her son who lies motionless in Room No.
2129 of Soliman Fakeeh Hospital in Jeddah. She wept softly
as she told Arab News of the pain and sadness she has had
to endure for nine traumatic years. All kinds of life support
equipment are attached to Mohammed. The only signs of
life, however, are his breathing and his constantly blinking
eyelids.
Halima and her husband have been legal residents in the
Kingdom for more than 25 years. They are from Addis
Ababa and they have always been based in Makkah.
Mohammed is their second child. Their first is a daughter,
Naeema, who is now 16.
The son was born in Makkah and had a normal childhood.
When he was 4, he had a problem with breathing and his
parents brought him to Jeddah for the best possible medical
attention. The pediatrician did not raise any alarm. They
visited him twice. On the second visit, the doctor, whose
name Halima does not remember, said that Mohammed
needed an adenoidectomy which is a minor operation on the
nose.
“It will be a 10-minute procedure and your son will be out of
the hospital in a few hours,” she recalled the doctor as
saying. Mohammed did not have insurance so he was a
cash patient. The doctor said the operation had to be
performed by a specialist and that an appointment had to be
made. The procedure was set to be performed on Feb. 9,
2006, by Dr. Mohammed Ismail Zawji, an Egyptian.
“We came from Makkah at the appointed hour in the
morning of that day. Mohammed was at his chirpy best,”
recalled his mother, tears rolling down her cheeks.
What happened next is a very sad story. What was to be a
10-minute operation turned out to be a long nightmare. For
Mohammed. For Halima. For Mohammed’s father. For the
hospital. And everyone else.
According to the medical report, after the operation, the
child was transferred from the operating room to a normal
room. “In the following few hours, the child arrested and
Code Blue was called. He was successfully resuscitated and
transferred to an intensive care unit. He was ventilated and
given intensive therapy to reduce brain edema and control
seizures,” said the report, a copy of which was made
available to Arab News by the mother. (In medical
terminology, Code Blue is generally used to indicate a that a
patient requires resuscitation or is in need of immediate
medical attention.)
None of this made any sense to Halima who stayed in the
hospital waiting for the news of Mohammed’s recovery.
“One day passed, and then two, three, four ... Days then
turned into months. And months into years,” said Halima.
“My son did not come back to us. He remained in bed with
no life in his limbs. Only his eyes kept blinking. He went into
a deep sleep and I am still waiting for him to wake up.”
The hospital, and more specifically its founder, the late Dr.
Soliman Fakeeh himself, sympathized with Halima. “He
assured us of all help. He regularly visited my son and
always told me that my son would be all right,” she said.
“He was a good man.”
Initially, she made daily trips from Makkah to Jeddah to be
at her son’s side. The daily trips soon became a problem
and so she rented a place in Jeddah; later the hospital
provided her with accommodation in a rest house on the
hospital premises. The family was financially well off but
their situation began to change. The husband could not
possibly leave his job in Makkah. In fact, he had to shoulder
the extra financial burdens in view of the changed
circumstances. However, it must be stated that the hospital
did not charge them a single halala.
Three years after the botched operation and with no end in
sight, Halima approached the Health Ministry. She alleges
that her file had begun to gather dust when someone
suggested that she approach the Ethiopian Consulate and
so she did. “The consulate approached the Makkah
Governorate through a good prince and it directed the matter
to the Health Ministry,” Vice Consul Yalelet Getachew
Ashenafi told Arab News last week. “Once the papers went
from the governorate, the ministry sprang into action and
the old file was dusted off.”
A commission, consisting of six eminent doctors from the
best government hospitals and departments, was
established to look into the case. It was headed by Dr.
Mohammed Nasser Al-Sulami. “This was six years ago,”
said Halima. “The commission delivered its report two
months ago — on June 16, 2015, to be precise.”
According to the findings of the commission, the hospital is
100 percent accountable for the mistake. The commission’s
report, a copy of which is in the possession of Arab News,
ordered the hospital to pay SR2.4 million compensation for
the medical error. It also fined the hospital SR100,000 for
procedural lapses. The report directs that the hospital not
charge the patient anything.
Both parties were called in and both rejected the
commission’s decision according to the report that
concluded by stating that both parties reserved the right to
appeal within two months. Halima, through the consulate,
has lodged an appeal.
According to Halima, the hospital has agreed to pay SR2.4
million. “But I don’t need this. What will I do with it? The
hospital has set a condition that once we accept the SR2.4
million, we will have to take our son out,” she said.
The Ethiopian vice consul termed the compensation
inadequate. “Once Mohammed is out of the hospital, he will
not be able to survive for one month with that money,” said
Ashenafi. “They have already forced Halima to vacate the
rest house that was provided to her by the hospital on its
premises. She is on her own now. Community members
chip in to help with her daily needs. The husband is doing
all he can to sustain the family. Mohammed’s sister,
Naeema, is in Makkah with her father. The whole family has
suffered terribly.”
The mother wants the hospital to arrange medical help from
abroad in order to revive her child. “They should try. There
must be some way out. I have a feeling he hears me,” she
said.
Medical experts that Arab News approached said unless a
miracle happened, the child’s chances of recovery are
remote. “Who is going to tell this to the mother?” said
Hassan M. Jaber, a close friend of the family. “You and I
can understand. She cannot. She wants her child back. All
that can be done should be done. If outside help can be
arranged, it should be. The hospital or the government
should help the devastated mother.”
Like any mother for whom a child is a precious gift, Halima
remains hopeful. “Allah, the Almighty, will come to my aid.
My son will walk out of this hospital hale and hearty. I only
pray that no mother should have to endure the kind of agony
that I have experienced. Waiting nine years is too much,”
she said, hiding her tears. “Too much.”
The heavy silence that ensues is suddenly broken by a beep
of one of the machines attached to Mohammed.
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