‘Quadriplegic patient at Al-Adan Hospital needs help’

Khurshid Allam, 36, a construction helper from Bangladesh suffered a tragic accident on 24 October 2016. He was helping a colleague move a heavy kitchen cabinet when the thing fell onto him

Khurshid Allam

KUWAIT: A young Bangladeshi man has been paralyzed for life and is stuck in Adan hospital - unable to get home. Khurshid Allam, 36, a construction helper from Bangladesh suffered a tragic accident on 24 October 2016. He was helping a colleague move a heavy kitchen cabinet when the thing fell onto him, crushing him beneath. The accident left him a quadraplegic and according to doctors, there is no hope of him ever regaining the use of his arms or legs. He can move a bit one of his arm and can understand conversation but cannot talk or communicate easily.

But the tragedy extends further. Khurshid came to Kuwait on an illicit visa, meaning he paid a sponsor for a visa but never actually worked for him. Instead he found odd jobs and worked freelance, paying a fee to his ‘kafeel’ of KD 1,500, according to his brother Masoud who is also in Kuwait.

Now that he’s paralyzed and unable to work, Khurshid has no way to pay for his flight back home nor any hope of supporting himself and his small family back in Chadpur, a district about 150 kilometers from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

“I am going to Bangladesh Embassy today [Thursday] to ask for any help,” Masoud explained. “The doctor told us he’s ready for discharge and we need some money. I hope the embassy could extend some help to us. He has a three year old son. The reason why he tried to come to Kuwait was because they want to live a decent life. But now, he cannot work again,” Masoud said.

A few people have come forward to try and help Khurshid. A young medical student, Ayat Al-Duwaikhi and her mom, Kenya Purcell, have followed Khurshid’s case and have tried to collect help in the form of small personal items like socks and toiletries. They are also hoping to find others who can help to pay for Khurshid’s transfer back to Bangladesh and to help establish a small business there that his wife can run.

“I felt very sad about Khurshid’s story. I heard from his brother Masoud that they sold a piece of land in Bangladesh just to be able to come and work in Kuwait. He will go home paralyzed,” Kenya said.

Khurshid never worked for his sponsor directly but instead paid a fee for his visa and worked outside freelancing. As a consequence, it’s unlikely his sponsor will help cover his flight back home.

Visa trading is a common practice in Kuwait and there are tens of thousands of ‘marginal’ laborers who come to the country seeking work who never work directly for their sponsors. Instead they pay a fee to the ‘kafeel’ and search for work outside, typically for low wages.

By Ben Garcia