Eight-year-old hit by reckless driver has a long road to recovery

Noorallah Shalash was rushed to UAQ Hospital after being hit by a car while crossing King Faisal Street.

Noorallah Shalash is recuperating after he was run over. Hospital bills are a concern for his family. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

UMM AL QUWAIN // An eight-year-old boy who was hit by a car on December 27 last year and woke from a three-month long coma has a long way to go to recover.

Noorallah Shalash was taken to UAQ Hospital after being struck while crossing King Faisal Street.

When he arrived, doctors thought he was dead. The boy suffered bleeding on the brain, internal bleeding and fractures to his left leg and chest.

The Egyptian driver who hit Noorallah was held for 10 days then fined Dh2,000 for reckless driving.

Noorallah was in a coma until March 17, when his condition improved enough that he could be moved to a rehabilitation centre in Abu Dhabi.

“The percentage of his improvement is 50 per cent compared to [when he was in] UAQ,” said Noorallah’s mother, Rola Fawzi Abu Al Hijaa.

During his stay at UAQ Hospital, Noorallah was able to open but not move his eyes and was fed through tubes.

Now he can gesture with his eyes, said Ms Abu Al Hijaa.

“Now he moves them right and left and towards me when I call him. When we ask him a question such as ‘do you want to eat ice-cream or yogurt?’ he opens and closes his eyes to answer.

“When the doctor asks ‘This is your mother or this lady?’ If I am not the one, he does not give any gesture and if I am the one he moves his head up and down to say ‘yes’” Noorallah’s mother said.

“Doctors took an X-ray of his pharynx and found that he can swallow thin food such yogurt but the movement of the throat and mouth muscles are still weak.

“We feed him yogurt with a spoon, but not too much, and he is still using the pipes,” she said. “In addition, we sit him on a chair dedicated for him.”

The family travels each day to the capital from UAQ to visit Noorallah, dividing visits between members, said his uncle, Rami Fawzi Abu Al Hijaa. “No one stays with him at the centre and we go to him periodically from UAQ and we shift the visits between us – the mother, father, aunt and me. Each one stays with him for hours and sometimes rents a room in a hotel beside the centre. That definitely has affected the budget,” he said.

Noorallah’s treatment has been paid for thanks to a donation from a member of the public.

While his condition has improved, his family is concerned about the rising costs of treatment.

“No one has determined how long he needs to stay in the centre. The duration of his stay depends on his response to the treatment.

“But the problem is will the sponsor continue with us throughout the treatment or for a limited time? That is what we do not know as he paid for the first three months and he was asked to renew for another two months but we do not know if he did,” the uncle said.

Noorallah’s mother said: “If the sponsor stopped his help, we won’t be able to pay the costs. In this case, we will take him out of the centre. We asked about this and they told us if we do not know how to treat his condition, it will become worse and he will die after two weeks.

“I do not want to think about that and I hope for Allah to recover him today before tomorrow,” she said.

Anyone who wishes to help with Noorallah’s bills can contact his uncle at 0553300633.