When a biker ended up badly hurt on a busy main road, his luck changed for the better ... because a doctor specialising in emergency medicine just happened to be driving by.
RAS AL KHAIMAH // Fareed Al Hammadi knows he is lucky to be alive. And he knows exactly who to thank for that.
On May 5, the 26-year-old Emirati was riding his Harley-Davidson along Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road on his way to meet friends in Ajman when a lorry swerved into his lane, sending him flying from his bike and skidding along the Tarmac.
Lying unconscious and bleeding on the busy road, Mr Al Hammadi was in a critical condition, but despite the injuries suffered in the crash his luck had not failed him completely.
As chance would have it, Dr Talal Mouzaek was driving down the same stretch of road. The Syrian emergency medicine specialist was one of the first people on the scene and was able to help stabilise the injured biker until paramedics arrived.
“I had a day off and went to Sharjah with my wife. While I was going back to my house in RAK, at around 8 to 9pm, I saw an accident and a person lying on the street,” said Dr Mouzaek, who works at Sheikh Khalifa General Hospital in UAQ.
“I stopped my car, grabbed the first aid box and ran towards the patient. I introduced myself to people who were standing there as an emergency doctor and wanted to help the man,” he said.
Mr Al Hammadi was seriously hurt. He was unconscious, his neck badly twisted, he had difficulty in breathing and was bleeding from the face, said the 39-year-old doctor.
“He was lying on his belly and had difficulty breathing because the helmet twisted his neck. I asked people to place him properly to protect his spine and breathing, and gave them the instructions on how to lie him the right way. I cut the helmet away that was stopping his breath,” said Dr Mouzaek.
Ten minutes later the ambulance arrived and Dr Mouzaek briefed paramedics on Mr Al Hammadi’s injuries before he was taken to the nearby Sheikh Khalifa Hospital in Ajman.
But that was not the end of the doctor’s involvement, as he monitored Mr Al Hammadi condition while he was transferred from Ajman to City Hospital in Dubai for emergency treatment.
“I followed up his condition from A to Z because it is very important for me as a doctor to know that I could help him and save the patient from death,” Dr Mouzaek said.
Just nine days later, Mr Al Hammadi was able to leave hospital and return home to recover after surgery to correct fractures in his hands as well as injuries to his shoulder and limbs.
Now, doctor and patient have been reunited, with Mr Al Hammadi keen to show his thanks to the physician in true biker style – with a parade in his honour.
“As bikers, we express our happiness or thank someone through a bike parade that is seen by all people. I am in the Wolves Bikers team and we will do a parade from RAK to Sheikh Khalifa Hospital in UAQ,” said the father of a year-old girl and two-year-old boy.
“I want to thank him for saving my life and I don’t know how to fully express that because what he did is a great thing.”
The doctor said seeing his patient alive and in good health was reward enough.
“I am so happy that I am sitting with you,” he told Mr Al Hammadi.
“As doctors we are happy when we see our patients in good health after they were in critical conditions, and this is a rare chance to see them after leaving the hospital.”
Mr Al Hammadi’s friend, Khalfan Al Falahi, said Dr Mouzaek’s actions had inspired his fellow bikers to take courses in first aid so they could also help victims of road accidents.
“After the accident, we got the idea of learning first aid because we always go on parades and to far-off destinations and in case we see an accident we can help and save lives until the ambulance arrives,” said the Emirati IT technician, 29.
roueiti@thenational.ae