SHARJAH // A two-year-old Emirati boy is fighting for his life after being hit on the head by a fairground ride at the Sharjah Water Festival.
Khalifa Obeid Saeed Al Zayoudi slipped away from his parents and was struck on the head by the Crazy Fire ride.
Khalifa was rushed to the intensive care unit at Al Qassimi Hospital in Sharjah where he underwent emergency surgery for a brain haemorrhage. He remains in a coma.
Dr Abdull Wahid Mohammed Al Wahidi, a surgery consultant, said Khalifa suffered trauma and bleeding on the brain and that his condition was still serious a week after the accident. "We are doing everything to save his life and our team has already conducted a number of surgeries."
His father, Obaid Saeed Al Zayoudi, said: "We were buying the tickets when Khalifa saw the ride and it excited him," Mr Al Zayoudi said. "Like any child, he just slipped away from us. He went to try to enter the ride when he was hit heavily on the head."
The boy's mother saw the accident. "I hurried when I heard Khalifa's mother screaming. She was distracted for just a few seconds but he was already inside the structure of the ride, which was raised above then came smashing down on his head."
Mr Al Zayoudi had brought his family to visit the water festival at Khalid Lagoon and Al Majaz Park.
