A teenage asthma sufferer who passed out while on the phone to the ambulance service was saved after the call handler used technology to track his location.
Keanne Alston, 17, suffered a severe asthma attack at his Dubai home in January.
He was still unconscious when the ambulance reached his home, and had begun to turn blue due to a lack of oxygen.
Doctors battled to save his life for days, calling his case one of the most challenging they had ever seen.
“As a pulmonologist this was one of the toughest and rarest case I have seen in my career”, said Dr Muhammad Aslam, specialist pulmonologist at International Modern Hospital, who treated Keanne.
“Before he was able to give his history, he collapsed during the conversation.”
For the first few hours, they were essentially treating him blind, as he was unconscious, so they did not have immediate access to his medical history.
His condition continued to deteriorate, despite placing him on a ventilator and using all the available medicines to treat him.
A scan showed part of his lung was blocked, but medication did not relieve the problem, and on the fourth day his heart stopped several times.
Further investigations revealed an “air leak” in one of his lungs.
“I immediately did a chest tube insertion,” said general surgeon, Dr Siva.
He steadily began to improve after that, and is now mostly recovered, aside from some residual roughness in his voice due to the tubes used to save his life.
“This is one of the happiest moments of our lives, when we are able to save the life of a patient,” said Dr Aslam.
Doctors still do not know the cause of the asthma attack, but suspect that it may be related to allergies. The family now plan to do further allergy testing.
Keanne said he was grateful to the doctors for saving his life.
“When I woke up in the ICU I didn’t know it was this severe,” he said.
“I am feeling much better now.”
His mother, Susan Correia Castelino, who has lived in Dubai for 21 years, said it was a “miracle” he survived.
“I don’t know how many people were praying from all different faiths, but it was a miracle he survived that day,” she said.
“The first attack he had was on January 21, when I was at work.
“On January 24 he crashed. That was very bad. He was brought back to life three times, and doctors fought it out for almost four hours.
“They believed there was very little chance of him surviving at that point.”
“They did a wonderful job.”
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
CONFIRMED%20LINE-UP
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
IF YOU GO
The flights: FlyDubai offers direct flights to Catania Airport from Dubai International Terminal 2 daily with return fares starting from Dh1,895.
The details: Access to the 2,900-metre elevation point at Mount Etna by cable car and 4x4 transport vehicle cost around €57.50 (Dh248) per adult. Entry into Teatro Greco costs €10 (Dh43). For more go to www.visitsicily.info
Where to stay: Hilton Giardini Naxos offers beachfront access and accessible to Taormina and Mount Etna. Rooms start from around €130 (Dh561) per night, including taxes.
ENGLAND TEAM
Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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