Ajman McDonald’s crash driver’s seizures started last year

A woman and a nine-year-old boy died when a pick-up crashed into a fast-food restaurant at a petrol station in Ajman. Courtesy Ajman Police

AJMAN // The driver of the pick-up truck that smashed into the front window of a McDonald’s restaurant at an Eppco petrol station in Ajman may have taken an overdose of muscadol, the powerful painkiller and muscle relaxant used to control epilepsy.

“He has a prescription but if he took an overdose, police and medical reports will clarify that,” said his father, Humaid Saleh Al Alelee, 54.

Mr Al Alelee said his son, who is 22 and in the Armed Forces, had suffered from epilepsy since he was 15. Last year, however, he started having severe fits.

“The first severe epileptic seizure was on November 10, 2015. He was sitting in the car beside me and his mother. For half an hour he was convulsing, unable to breathe, until we got him out of the car and he vomited. We took him to the hospital and doctors at the time stopped him from driving for four months.

“After the four months, the doctors gave him permission to drive, so if they allow him to drive, I cannot prevent that. After this, he started having seizures frequently.

“I do not deny that my son drives at high speed but the spasms he had caused the accident. The cameras there showed how it happened.

“But I wonder, when he did medical check-ups for the Army, why nothing appeared in the examinations.”

Mr Al Alelee, who has five other sons and three daughters, said he feels guilty about the fatal crash and does not want to speak to his son.

“I refuse to visit him because of the victims who lost their lives. I only saw him at the hospital on the day of the incident and I told him: ‘This child who died, what is his guilt in life? What is his guilt that this meal was his last one, what is the guilt of these people who came to eat and then you ended their lives?’

“I feel guilty because he is my son, and I never wished this to happen. When I leave my house, I keep my eyes on the ground due to the pain I have. But this is destiny and who can change it?

“I am not justifying my son at all. I swear to God, his mother and I say if he had died with the other people who died, the issue would be easier for us.”

Mr Al Alelee said he had not visited the families of the crash victims because he did not want to burden them further.

“I told my wife that I wanted to go but I was scared of increasing the problems between us.

“I am not ignoring them. I want to go to them at any time, wherever they are, if they accept my visit, even though my apologies will not repair anything or bring their son to life again.

“Whatever I say, I am unable to express my regret and grief and I do not blame them for anything they say.”