Air India has finally transported a comatose patient home after being lambasted for off-loading him from a flight earlier this month. The patient, Mohammed Shaffe, 39, was accompanied on Sunday by Dr. Govindraj Satyanarayana, a doctor at Kims Hospital, Jubail, to Karippur International Airport in Kerala. Shaffe's relatives have admitted him to a hospital there. Shaffe, who came to the Kingdom seven months ago as a house driver, is the sole support of his wife and three children. The Indian Embassy authorities, who intervened in the matter, made the repatriation possible. The workers of the India Fraternity Forum, who also worked hard to get Shaffe sent home, thanked the embassy officials and the doctors and staff of King Fahd Military Hospital for their care and support. Shaffe, from Thanoor in Malappuram district of Kerala, India, spent almost two months in King Fahd Military Hospital, after being involved in an accident in the Abqaiq area. On Aug. 6, Saudi Gazette reported how the “callous” Air India, India's state-run airlines, off-loaded Shaffe even after he was issued a boarding pass and completed all his immigration procedures. According to Abdullah Ali, organizer of the India Fraternity Forum, Air India off-loaded the passenger “due to lack of facilities to carry a sick passenger”, it was reported. The forum's members had made all the arrangements, including the required paperwork, and received confirmation from Air India to send Shaffe home for medical treatment. He was also provided a nurse and an assistant as per the directives of the airline. However, when they arrived with Shaffe at the airport, the in-flight doctor refused to allow him to travel, arguing that he was unconscious and that there were no medical facilities inside the plane. He was then taken off the plane. The accompanying nurse and travel assistant had to travel to India without Shaffe since their immigration formalities had been completed. The incident caused an uproar in the Indian community. Social workers in Dammam said they planned to file a complaint against Air India with the Saudi Human Rights Commission, Indian and Saudi aviation ministries, Indian foreign minister and Indian minister for expatriates' affairs.
