Munira Abdulla, hailing from UAE, had slipped into a coma following a road accident 27 years ago. She was returning home from school with her four-year-old son Omar. The car in which they were travelling was hit by a school van.
The accident that changed the life of Munira, who was 32 years old then, had occurred in 1991.
Munira and Omar were in the rear seat. When she realized that a collision was about to happen, Munira grabbed her son and covered him with a tight embrace. Even after she suffered grave injuries and was unconscious, Munira held Omar close to her.
At that time, doctors had opined that the young woman would never see a return to normal life. But Omar says that he never believed them. “I was certain that Mother would wake up one day,” he says.
Omar, now aged 32, explains: “We lived in Al Ain those days. Mother saved me with her protective hug. As mobile phones were still to arrive, it took some time to call the ambulance and we spent hours on the road before medical aid arrived.”
And, when she recovered her consciousness after 27 years, the first word Munira spoke was her son’s name.
Munira’ story was brought to the attention of the world by the Arab publication ‘The National’. Soon the international media picked up the story.
Such an instance of a comatose patient making a recovery after decades is a very rare occurrence. Even though she regained consciousness after a long interval, Munira remembers many important things like her son’s name, prayer chants and others.
As Munira has been bedridden for years, she is unable to move freely and expert treatment is being administered on her to bring her back to normalcy.
