ABU DHABI // Before his accident, Ahmed Matrooshi was on the verge of making the UAE’s national football team and had a year left of school before graduating.
Instead, the 19-year-old Emirati is now an amputee and has suffered devastating injuries that have ended his dreams of playing the sport again – a direct consequence of being in a speeding car while not wearing a seatbelt.
The father of the Sharjah-born teenager, who declined to give his name, said his son and friends were socialising on the Corniche in Kalba, Sharjah, on November, 29, 2012, when Ahmed’s life changed.
“At the time of the accident, they were speeding and racing another vehicle when they crashed into the traffic light pole,” he said. “All four friends were unrestrained by seatbelts.
“The driver was not licensed and sustained a broken leg, and the two back-seat passengers were fortunate enough to not suffer any injuries.” However, it was Ahmed, sitting in the front passenger seat, who suffered the most. To his father, the list of his injuries seemed endless: a severe traumatic brain injury, severe injuries to his lower left leg resulting in its amputation below the knee, multiple other fractures, several muscle contusions and multiple damage to ligaments and tendons.
“I struggle with sadness when I leave Ahmed after visiting,” said his father. “I feel like I am missing one of my sons.”
After receiving rehabilitation treatment in Germany for a year-and-a-half after the accident, Ahmed is now at Amana Healthcare in Al Ain.
“He has a minimal state of consciousness and is dependent for all activities of daily living,” said his father. “Due to the length of time since his injury, this is unlikely to change.”
“Don’t drive if you do not have a licence and wear your seatbelt,” he added.
newsdesk@thenational.ae