RIYADH: According to family members, it was the banana spring rolls that killed Zaid, a nine-year-old boy who died after being admitted on Sunday morning for physical symptoms of food poisoning.
Zaid’s parents are still with their 10-year-old daughter, Arwa, who is in intensive care at Obeid Specialist Hospital in Riyadh.
According to the boy’s paternal uncle, a friend of Zaid’s father Abdul Jabbar came by Saturday night with food.
“All four members of the family enjoyed the Chinese spring rolls stuffed with bananas without knowing the consequences of consuming the food,” said the uncle Abdul Rahman.
By Sunday morning the boy was crying due to extreme abdominal pain. He was admitted to hospital at approximately 8:30 a.m.
“The hospital discharged the boy at 12:30 p.m.,” said Abdul Rahman. “He was readmitted at 1:30 p.m. because he kept complaining of stomach pains after returning home.”
The boy died at about 3 p.m. at the hospital.
Arwa is being watched, but it is not clear if the girl too had been complaining of pain or whether she fell ill after her brother was taken to hospital.
“Doctors are monitoring her progress and we are all praying for her recovery at a time when the family has already lost a member,” Abdul Rahman said.
Abdul Rahman said he had no qualms of conscience against the person who brought the food. “He did it with good intentions,” he said.
However, he added that he still could not find a good reason for the doctors to discharge the patient from hospital so quickly. “This is a good lesson for others and signals a firm warning for doctors to prevent such recurrences,” he said.
Officials at the Middle East International School confirmed that Zaid and Arwa were reading in Grade Three and Four, respectively. The school conducted a special session to offer prayers to the deceased.
“The news of the tragedy came as a great shock for the staff and students. Zaid was an active and amiable student who was good in his studies,” said a schoolteacher who did not want his name published.
