Emirati child dies after 11 years in ICU at Sharjah hospital

Mohammed Abbas Al Mazim spent most of his life at Al Qassimi Hospital in Sharjah after being hit by a car in 2003 when he was a two-year-old.

SHARJAH // An Emirati boy who had been in intensive care since 2003, when he was run over by a car, has died at Al Qassimi Hospital in Sharjah.

The death of Mohammed Al Mazim, 13, saddened the entire staff, especially the doctors and nurses in the ICU.

Mohammed let go of his father’s hand for a moment while walking on the street and was hit by a car, causing fractures to his cervical vertebrae, which led to quadriplegia. He was admitted to the hospital in 2003 and was in a coma for some time.

He was eventually brought out of the coma, but could breathe only through a ventilator and was confined to the ICU.

Mohammed’s parents had taken him to specialist hospitals in Germany and Thailand, where he received stem cell injections.

His response to the treatment was minor.

In one of two trips to Germany, the boy was given a small ventilator that he could use outside the hospital to lead a more normal life. The device was not available in the UAE. After seven months abroad, he returned to the ICU at Al Qassimi.

Hospital administration said the staff had been hopeful he would recover to lead a normal life.

Mohammed was the longest-staying patient at Al Qassimi Hospital, the administration said.

They said his hospital room was set up with all of his personal belongings and was a place he could watch children’s television programmes.