Comatose maid to to be airlifted home from UAE

Dubai: A 27-year-old Ethiopian national who lapsed into a coma within 48 hours of her arrival in the UAE and has spent two months in a hospital is likely to be airlifted back home as the Ethiopian Consulate is working on her repatriation.
Najjat Muhammad Nurye arrived in Dubai to work as a housemaid on July 21 this year. But within two days, she was found gasping for breath and foaming around her mouth and was rushed to the hospital.

Dr Kishen Pakkal, CEO of the International Modern Hospital, where Nurye was brought by paramedics, told Gulf News: “We are a tertiary care hospital and we have a policy of never turning away a patient who comes to our emergency. On July 23, Nurye was brought to the hospital in a comatose condition gasping for breath with pooled salivary secretion and high grade fever. She was intubated in the Emergency Room and placed on mechanical ventilator. It was suspected to be a case of attempted suicide by poisoning. The Dubai Police along with paramedic staff of DCAS stated that they found an empty box of Vaseline beside her at the location. Doubting that she had probably consumed poison, we conducted various tests to diagnose poisoning and treated her on those lines. So far, we have not been able to establish this,” he said.

Two months later, Nurye continues to be critical in the intensive care unit of the hospital with assisted breathing and without any family or friends to help her out. A multidisciplinary medical team (critical care/intensivist, neurologist, gastroenterologist, and nephrologist) at IMH continues to give her supportive treatment. Her sponsor when contacted was unavailable for any comments and has not come forward to foot the medical bill, said Dr Pakkal. As of September 25, the hospital bill had totalled Dh550,000.

Recently, the patient showed some response by either opening her eyes or crying, but she continues to be in coma. Dr Saad Al Abbasy, Specialist Critical Care at IMH, told Gulf News: “The patient showed spontaneous eye opening but is unresponsive to pain. She may remain in this semi-conscious state for a long time.”
While the hospital authorities have no idea of who will foot the bill of the patient as the sponsor has not responded to requests, they feel the sooner Nurye is flown home the better it will be for her convalescence.
The hospital has contacted the Ethiopian Consulate which is making attempts to contact social workers or NGOs in Addis Ababa who can take on the expenses of repatriating the patient to her village. “It is likely that in familiar surroundings with her parents and family around her, the young girl might wake up from her coma. She is in a stable condition and can be airlifted, so we are trying to send her back home. I met the Consul-General of Ethiopia, Yibeltal Alemu, who has expressed a desire to cooperate on sending Nurye back to Ethiopia,” said Dr Pakkal.
A senior official from the Ethiopian Consulate in Dubai confirmed this to Gulf News.