(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) A British teenager who nearly lost his life during a freak quad bike accident during a visit to Dubai is struggling to live the life he had before.
Nineteen-year-old John Alexander Glaister and his family were visiting Dubai from London late last month when the teenager hit his head on a large rock after his quad bike toppled over near Al Dhaid. "He cracked his skull due to the hit and the impact caused bleeding in the brain," said an official from Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services that dealt with the case initially. A surgery was performed immediately at Al Dhaid Hospital to relieve the pressure on the brain after which Alex was shifted almost 100km away to International Modern Hospital (IMH) in Dubai for intensive care. Today, Alexander is undergoing full rehabilitation in the UK. His family, however, says that the youngster's life was saved due to the timely medical intervention and the aftercare he received in the UAE. "Alex is continuing to recover and is getting stronger each day," said his father Paul his father in an email. The impact of the fall was so great that Alex suffered from short term memory loss while he also almost loss the vision in his right eye. He also has to learn how to live life again, basically how to walk and talk. "Alex is currently undergoing physio and occupational therapy and will start speech therapy soon. He had an eye examination and both are okay. He still as only 20 per cent sight on his right eye but, God willing, this may improve as pathways have improved in highly affected areas," wrote Paul. Paul said Alex's short term memory is also improving. "He is struggling to write and read, but these should also improve. He is very focused on his improvement ... he is a very determined young man, he added. "We have our moments of frustration and anger, but it is still early days and we're sure we'll get there. We are very optimistic of the outcome and him returning to university in the next academic year," added Paul. "The teenager cracked his skull during the fall and was put on a life support machine," said Dr Kishan Pakkal, Chief Executive Officer at IMH. "It was a tricky situation because of the distance between Al Dhaid and IMH and the fact that the youngster was intubated," said Dr Kishan. However, the process was carried out seamlessly. Dr Hillol Kanti Pal, Consultant Neurosurgeon stated that in such an accident many things could have gone wrong. "Among other things that we had to rule out in this case was suspected abdominal injury and stroke." Dr Nitin Tarale, Intensivist at the hospital said that Alexander also had traumatic brain injury and was in comatose state. Alex was discharged in a stable condition in 10 days. "We gave all the required support to the family at the time of crisis.they were tourists and had no one to fall back on in Dubai," said Dr Kishan. Asma Ali Zain Associated with KT for 15 years. Covers health issues, Pakistan community, human interest stories as well as general topics for daily news or features.