Boy, 6, undergoes eye surgery after Fujairah classroom attack

The boy was attacked by a classmate on February 11. He has since undergone two surgeries to his eye, with another scheduled for April. It is not yet know if his sight will be permanently damaged.

Musabeh Al Zahmi, who had eye surgery at Fujairah Hospital after being attacked by a school classmate with a sharp object, sits with his father, Salem. Satish Kumar / The National

FUJAIRAH // A six-year-old Emirati boy had to have surgery after an attack by a classmate caused severe trauma to his left eye.

Musabeh Al Zahmi was injured by a sharp object earlier this month during an English lesson at Umm Senan Primary School.

School staff alerted his family and suggested the boy be taken to hospital.

The school, in the Siji area, informed Salem Al Zahmi, the boy’s father, that the classmate had attacked him with a pencil.

Doctors, however, said his wounds, including a deep cut, could not have been made by a pencil.

“We were doing an English exercise when [the boy] came from beneath the table and attacked me with something I didn’t see, but there was a lot of blood coming from my eye. I don’t know why he did that,” the six-year-old said.

“He always steals my sweets and money and I don’t like him, but I never hurt him. I don’t want to go to school any more.”

Musabeh’s mother, Umm Abdullah, 23, said: “I complained several times to the school principal about [the boy and] his aggressive behaviour towards kids, but they didn’t take any action. Even now the child attends school normally while my son sits at home in pain.

“The child should be punished and dismissed from school in order to realise what he had caused.”

After surgery in Fujairah, Musabeh has undergone another operation at Dubai Healthcare City. He is scheduled to have another procedure in April. It is not yet known if the eye is permanently damaged.

Mr Al Zahmi said: “I received a call from my wife telling me Musabeh’s school had called her to come and take him to the hospital because his eye was red.

“I was at work in Abu Dhabi at the time, and my wife doesn’t know how to drive, so I told her to call the school back and inform them to take Musabeh to the hospital immediately,” he said.

“[The school] waited for so long to move him to the hospital, and Masafi Hospital refused to accept the case until they provide them with a police report stating the incident. This delay affected my son’s situation and made it worse.”

Masafi Hospital was not equipped to handle the case, and the boy was transferred to Fujairah Hospital where he had two hours of eye surgery.

“After he was transferred to Fujairah Hospital they directly took him to surgery to save what was left of the eye. The doctor told me that Musabeh suffered from a severe penetrating wound in the eyeball at the lower edge of the cornea.

“My son can’t clarify it because he didn’t see the object, and his teacher told him it was a pencil.”

He said the school had told the pupils not to share any information about the incident to anybody, not even their parents.

Mr Al Zahmi said he went to file a complaint at Fujairah Educational Zone and they told him that they would do a full investigation, but nothing has yet happened.

“I have the police report and I will file a lawsuit against the negligence of the teachers and school and I know that justice will be served.”

Fujairah Educational Zone and Umm Senan Primary School refused to comment until the investigation is completed.