UNKNOWN PATIENT FINDS HOME

V L Srinivasan

Muscat: It has been a long wait for the family members of 43 year old Lachaiah Regula in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, while he has been recuperating in Khoula Hospital for the last 16 months.

With no word from him for more than 18 months, Lachaiah's wife Bhulakshmi gave up all hope and his relatives presumed him to be dead. Bhulakshmi became the sole bread winner for the family and started rolling cigarettes to meet the expenses for their only son's education.

But when she received a call in June this year saying that Lachaiah was undergoing treatment in Khoula Hospital in Muscat, her joy knew no bounds. “The last time my husband spoke to me was in February 2008 and he promised to return to India soon. But I was informed four months ago that he was in a hospital,” said Bhulakshmi in a
phone interview from India.

A native of Nallagonda village in Karimnagar district, Lachaiah, who was working as a farm labourer in his village, went to Dubai by paying around Rs200,000 (RO1,660) to an agent four years ago.

As the wages he was getting in Dubai were not sufficient to clear the debts, he came to Muscat as an illegal immigrant looking for better prospects. What happened to him or where he worked for next three months is not known as Lachaiah is unable to recollect the past.

He was brought to Badr al Sama hospital at Ruwi in an unconscious state by a person on April 14, 2008, and referred to Royal Hospital the same day. After his condition stabilised, he was shifted to Khoula Hospital on June 6, 2008, where he was in the ICU for more than four months and later moved to the general ward. He cannot speak
properly as a tracheal pipe, which was inserted down his throat when he was unconscious to enable feeding, was removed after only one year.

It was by chance that a private nurse and social worker Dina noticed him while he was lying in the hospital.

Since she came from the same state in India, she decided to take care of him. With Lachaiah in an amnesic condition, Dina had a tough time gathering information about him. Lachaiah only mentioned, with much difficulty, details about his native village and the district four months ago.

“Based on the information, I requested some people from the same district who were returning to their village, to trace his family members. Later, they called me and gave the telephone number of his wife Bhulakshmi and I explained about his condition,” Dina said.

Bhulakshmi faxed letters to officials at Khoula Hospital and the Indian Embassy requesting them to return her husband to India. And with Lachaiah having no documents, Dina also brought the matter to the notice of Indian Embassy officials, who got all the clearances from the Omani authorities and issued an out pass
on September 6.

Since Lachaiah cannot sit, Dina and the Indian Embassy officials have contacted
Air India officials to fly him back on a stretcher, but they were told it would cost around RO830, as they have to remove a couple of seats to accommodate the stretcher.
Indian Embassy officials plan to write to Air India authorities requesting that the charges be reduced, “Although he is an illegal immigrant, we are trying our best to send him back at the earliest,” a senior official said.