JEDDAH: Muteb Al-Zahrani, a 24-year-old Saudi youth, has been desperately visiting one government hospital in Jeddah after another since Thursday in an attempt to receive urgent medical treatment for a broken leg.
“My brother suffered fractures in his right leg from a car accident on Sahel Road while coming from the city of Laith on Thursday. Since then, he has not been operated on, even though his leg has become swollen,” Musa Al-Zahrani, Muteb’s elder brother, told Arab News.
Musa said that immediately after the accident his brother was taken to Al-Laith General Hospital where the hospital staff took X-rays and discovered the fractures.
However, they could not treat him there due to a lack of specialist help. The hospital then made arrangements to send Muteb to King Fahd Hospital (KFH) in Jeddah. However, the hospital refused to accept him.
Muteb was then taken to King Abdul Aziz Hospital where he waited in the emergency ward from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. before health workers said they could also not treat him. After that, he was taken to Al-Thagr Hospital where doctors decided to operate on the fractured leg on Saturday.
According to Musa, doctors asked for blood, which was provided by relatives and friends that very day.
However, doctors said more blood was needed. “The doctors asked for more blood, which was provided, but they then said they could not carry out the operation because the operation room was under maintenance,” said Musa.
The doctors asked relatives either to wait until the maintenance work was completed or take him out of the hospital at their own risk after signing official papers for the release.
Musa said he again approached officials at KFH who told him they could not accept his brother.
Arab News took the case to Dr. Sami Badawood, director of health affairs in Jeddah. He said the patient would be treated at Al-Noor Hospital in Makkah as requested by Muteb’s family, which is from Makkah.
Badawood said the delay of two or three days in the case of Muteb is not a serious matter and that the operation can be done safely any time. He added that the operation would be carried out within the next 24 hours.
