FUJAIRAH // In the world of tweets, Afayef Al Hadadi had been pronounced dead.
But as she sat in a Fujairah Hospital bed yesterday, with bandages on the right side of her head and along her right arm, she was seething over inaccurate reports about the lightning strike that took the life of her close friend, Sabha Al Mehrzi, 19.
"They said I died! But here I am!" she said.
Afayef, 22, survived a freak accident on Wednesday when lightning killed her friend in front of her.
"It is all false. Sabha was not standing taking photos of the storm with her mobile phone," she said. "Neither me nor her were carrying our phones. We just had our wallets because we were heading out to the canteen via the parking lot."
Afayef said she was upset people were trying to "turn the story" around, as if somehow Sabha had made a mistake.
"She wasn't carrying anything electrical," she said. "Stop speculating and making judgements. Leave us in peace."
With great difficulty, and support from her two sisters who were sitting with her and holding her hand, Afayef relived the "most horrible scene of my life".
Sabha and she were foundation students at the Fujairah Women's College. It was about 3pm on Wednesday, they had just finished class and it was raining.
Wanting a brisk walk in the rain, the two girls headed out to the faculty parking lot for the canteen.
At some point Sabha turned around and was walking backwards, facing Afayef and teasing her.
But then Sabha said: "You know I love you, right?"
It was the last thing Afayef remembered hearing before she felt something "heavy" on her right side, then found herself down on her stomach.
"It was like a flash but it was so powerful. It knocked me down," she said, adding that she hit her head on the walkway near a parking spot. She said she fainted for what felt like a few seconds before "water entering" her ear woke her up.
"I saw Sabha laying on her back. Her eyes open, unmoving. Staring out. I called out to her. Then I crawled over to her and saw it," Afayef said, breaking down.
"There was something dark around her neck," she said weeping.
"I knew she was dead. I could feel it. There was like a smell, I don't know. I was yelling out, 'Help! Help! Sabha is dead! Teacher! Teacher!"
Afayef said she remembered being taken inside by college staff, then students cleaning the blood from her face. She vomited and was dizzy. She was aware of what was happening around her, including the panic, but it all felt like "slow motion."
She recalled hearing a man's voice. It kept yelling at her.
"He was so annoying," Afayef said. "He kept asking me if I can hear him and if I know I am inside an ambulance. I wanted to yell back to be quiet. But instead I just said, 'Yes, yes. I know I am inside an ambulance'."
Everything was a blur that first night. There were a couple of hours of questioning by police and officials over the incident. "They kept asking me the same questions," Afayef said. "I kept repeating the story over and over, and feeling great pain each time. They were here from 4.00 to 10.00 at night. Back and forth. Asking me if I remember anything new.
Afayefi was discharged from the hospital at 1pm on Thursday. She said she was not afraid to return to the campus.
"I will pray and remember Sabha every day, and I will go back and continue what we started for her sake," she said. "I am not a quitter. She wasn't a quitter. She wouldn't have liked it if she knew I stopped going to college because of this."
She added: "Allah yarhamek Sabha:" "May Allah have mercy on you, Sabha."
rghazal@thenational.ae
more from Janine di Giovanni
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
As You Were
Liam Gallagher
(Warner Bros)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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
How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Rest
(Because Music)
'Cheb%20Khaled'
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EArtist%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKhaled%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELabel%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBelieve%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A