A traumatic event can cause loss of voice and the shock can hamper even basic communication.

Such an incident happened to an expatriate truck driver in the Kingdom whose sponsor refused to give him his papers after he had had an accident. The tragic accident and its aftermath induced a state of trauma where the truck driver lost his voice. The driver spent over two years in prison but his ordeal came to an end on the intervention of the governor. He was released from prison and left for home Friday morning.

Abhishekh Yadav, the 26-year-old Indian expatriate from the Mau district of Uttar Pradesh state, was working as a truck driver in the Majamah area plying the Riyadh-Al-Qassim route. However, he had never had an iqama or driver's license since his arrival in the Kingdom four years ago.

One fateful day on September 19, 2011, Yadav, driving a Dyna truck collided with a car driven by a Saudi youth, Mohammed Hussain. There were no fatalities but the severity of the collision sent Yadav into shock resulting in loss of voice.

According to Yadav’s family, the fault was his as he was driving without an iqama or driver’s license.

His sponsor also refused to accompany him to the police station or to the prison. The situation became even more complicated as Yadav was unable to articulate a single word. His father, Mohan Yadav, working in Jazan rushed to Majamah and pleaded for his son’s case with the authorities with the help of Indian social workers, Ashraf in Majamah and Shihab Kottukad in Riyadh. The duo took the initiative and approached the Majamah governor who immediately ordered for a medical examination to verify Yadav’s voice loss.

According to Mohan Yadav, the medical committee confirmed his son’s voice loss to the governor who intervened and compensated the sponsor for the damages, thus clearing the deck for Yadav’s release from jail.

However, the father had to approach the governor again as the sponsor was still refusing to give back Yadav’s passport and iqama for the release. So the authorities allowed Yadav to be released into his father’s custody.

After his release, Yadav went to record his biometrics at the Riyadh deportation center to obtain a travel document to India. In a miracle of sorts, Yadav suddenly uttered a word for the first time since he had come out of prison.

Abhishekh Yadav left for India aboard a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight to Lucknow on Friday morning, according to Kottukad.