A frontline health worker who made an amazing recovery from a coma after a harrowing six-month Covid-19 ordeal says medical colleagues in Abu Dhabi saved him from the “jaws of death".
Arunkumar M Nair, from India, contracted the deadly virus in July while supporting coronavirus patients as an operating theatre technician at LLH Hospital in Abu Dhabi.
After testing positive he was moved to a quarantine facility, where his condition swiftly deteriorated, leaving him struggling to breathe.
Doctors discovered his lungs were severely infected and on July 31 he was put on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support, as he was no longer able to breathe on his own.
He remained on the machine for 118 days. During his fight for survival, Mr Nair, 38, overcame many hurdles, including several operations and a cardiac arrest.
He spent five months on a life-support machine in the intensive care unit of the capital's Burjeel Hospital under the care of a team led by Dr Tarig Ali Mohamed Elhassan, department head of cardiac surgery.
His wife and children arrived from India soon after he fell into a coma. On Thursday, their months of heartache gave way to happiness as Mr Nair was discharged from hospital.
His release came less than a month after he was able to leave the intensive care unit as his health slowly improved.
'Doctors gave me second shot at life'
The tears rolled down his cheeks as he reflected on a lost six months and thanked the medical team for saving his life and reuniting him with his family.
“I do not remember anything. I know I had barely escaped from the jaws of death,” said Mr Nair.
“Thank you to God for blessing me with a new life. It is the strength of the prayers of my family, friends, and hundreds of others that I am alive today.
“I do not have words to thank them for their support and care. Also, a million thanks to Dr Tarig and his team for the exceptional care they have given to me.
“I now realise that if it were not for their constant efforts, I would not have got a second chance at life. My family and I will always be indebted to Burjeel Hospital and Dr Tarig for this new life.”
VPS Healthcare, which runs Burjeel Hospital as well as LLH Hospital, arranged accommodation for Mr Nair's wife Jenny George and their son Arjun Arunkumar, 2, so they could be by his side during his time of need.
“Though I knew he was in a critical condition, I was hopeful. But when I first saw him in the ICU bed with tubes all over his body, I could not believe my eyes. For the first time, I felt like he would not make it,” Ms George said.
“I was completely broken. But the medical team at Burjeel, VPS management, and Arun's friends were of great help. They supported me and filled me with positivity.
“If it had been any other doctor than Dr Tarig, I do not think Arun would be alive today. We will always be indebted to him and will remember Dr Tarig, the entire medical team, and the hospital management in our prayers for their sincere efforts in saving the life of Arun.”
'Recovery is a miracle'
Dr Elhassan said Mr Nair had to battle every step of the way after being hit hard by a devastating infection.
“Arun is a great fighter. I have never seen one like him in my career,” he said.
“His lungs had failed, and it was beyond repair. He was breathing only with the support of an ECMO machine. And this continued for about 118 days. In a normal case, the recovery would have been impossible.
“This is why Arun's recovery is a miracle to all of us. He even endured a cardiac arrest while his body was weak. His fighting spirit is remarkable.”
Mr Nair's lungs and other organs are now functioning normally. He will undergo physiotherapy and rehabilitation to regain strength.
“It might take some time for Arun to get back to normal life. Hopefully, he can get back to duty in a month or two. He has achieved the impossible. His grit is astonishing, and he will succeed,” said Dr Elhassan.
VPS Healthcare rewarded Mr Nair for his courageous comeback with financial aid of Dh250,000 ($68,000) at a function held on Thursday to celebrate his recovery.
The healthcare group will offer a job to his wife and will take up the expense of the education of his son.
The event was made even more special by a message delivered by Indian film star Tovino Thomas.
The actor took on the role of a superhero in his latest hit Minnal Murali, but said it was people like Mr Nair who are superheroes in real life.
Mr Nair was driven home in style in a Luxury Rolls-Royce to a one-bedroom apartment provided by VPS Healthcare.
He will soon fly to India to visit his parents and continue his physiotherapy.
He has vowed to return to duty next month to provide the life-saving help to others he is so thankful for.
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
FIXTURES
All games 6pm UAE on Sunday:
Arsenal v Watford
Burnley v Brighton
Chelsea v Wolves
Crystal Palace v Tottenham
Everton v Bournemouth
Leicester v Man United
Man City v Norwich
Newcastle v Liverpool
Southampton v Sheffield United
West Ham v Aston Villa
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Where to apply
Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
Please send applications to nmarch@thenational.ae and please mark the subject line as “Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism (UAE programme application)”.
The local advisory board will consider all applications and will interview a short list of candidates in Abu Dhabi in June 2020. Successful candidates will be informed before July 30, 2020.
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Blah
Started: 2018
Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and talent management
Initial investment: Dh20,000
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 40
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Dubai World Cup nominations
UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer
USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.
Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Gran Gala del Calcio 2019 winners
Best Player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Best Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)
Best Referee: Gianluca Rocchi
Best Goal: Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria vs Napoli)
Best Team: Atalanta
Best XI: Samir Handanovic (Inter); Aleksandar Kolarov (Roma), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Joao Cancelo (Juventus*); Miralem Pjanic (Juventus), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta), Nicolo Barella (Cagliari*); Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Duvan Zapata (Atalanta)
Serie B Best Young Player: Sandro Tonali (Brescia)
Best Women’s Goal: Thaisa (Milan vs Juventus)
Best Women’s Player: Manuela Giugliano (Milan)
Best Women’s XI: Laura Giuliani (Milan); Alia Guagni (Fiorentina), Sara Gama (Juventus), Cecilia Salvai (Juventus), Elisa Bartoli (Roma); Aurora Galli (Juventus), Manuela Giugliano (Roma), Valentina Cernoia (Juventus); Valentina Giacinti (Milan), Ilaria Mauro (Fiorentina), Barbara Bonansea (Juventus)
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Her most famous song
Aghadan Alqak (Would I Ever Find You Again)?
Would I ever find you again
You, the heaven of my love, my yearning and madness;
You, the kiss to my soul, my cheer and
sadness?
Would your lights ever break the night of my eyes again?
Would I ever find you again?
This world is volume and you're the notion,
This world is night and you're the lifetime,
This world is eyes and you're the vision,
This world is sky and you're the moon time,
Have mercy on the heart that belongs to you.
Lyrics: Al Hadi Adam; Composer: Mohammed Abdel Wahab
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
FIGHT CARD
Fights start from 6pm Friday, January 31
Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) v Ahmed Saeb (IRQ)
Women’s bantamweight
Cornelia Holm (SWE) v Corinne Laframboise (CAN)
Welterweight
Omar Hussein (JOR) v Vitalii Stoian (UKR)
Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) v Ali Dyusenov (UZB)
Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) v Delfin Nawen (PHI)
Catchweight 80kg
Seb Eubank (GBR) v Mohamed El Mokadem (EGY)
Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) v Ramadan Noaman (EGY)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Reydon Romero (PHI)
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Juho Valamaa (FIN)
Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) v Austin Arnett (USA)
Super heavyweight
Roman Wehbe (LEB) v Maciej Sosnowski (POL)
From Conquest to Deportation
Jeronim Perovic, Hurst
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
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Dunki
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SPECS
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