SAUDI GAZETTE
JEDDAH — The parents of a 16-year-old Ethiopian boy, who has been paralyzed and lies in a coma since 2006 following a medical malpractice, have received SR3 million in compensation after the intervention of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense.
The family has also been provided a medical aircraft to transfer the child to Ethiopia.
Halima, the mother of the victim who returned from Makkah after performing Umrah, told Saudi Gazette that she has decided to move back to Ethiopia.
“I am tired and I want to go back home. I really do not know what is waiting for me there, but I hope things will be good. Initially, my child will be admitted to a hospital then he will be moved to home to receive homecare,” she said.
Halima is planning to buy a home in Ethiopia. Her husband, who works in Makkah, will accompany her and her child and stay with them in Ethiopia until they settle down.
Halima, an Ethiopian national who used to live in Makkah and later moved to Jeddah to be by her son’s bed, told Saudi Gazette that her son, Mohammed Abdulaziz Yahya, underwent a tonsillectomy in 2006. He slipped into a coma after the surgery which also left him paralyzed.
Muhammad was four years of age when he underwent the routine surgical procedure to remove his tonsil.
The issue was raised by Saudi Gazette following several disputes between the mother and the private hospital in Jeddah.
A committee from the Ministry of Health looked into the case and issued its decision in April 2015, ordering a private right compensation worth SR2.4 million for the family of the patient and a public right of SR100,000 for violating the regulations of the Ministry of Health.
The mother and her child were visited lately by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who raised the issue during his meeting with Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman.
The parents of the victim appreciated the intervention of the Crown Prince and the Ethiopian prime minister and thanked the media as well as all those who have supported them.
