• Home

Grieving mother warns against reckless driving

SHARJAH — Yasmeen will never be able to forget March 10 for the rest of her life. This is a day that brings enormous pain to her.

Tomorrow, it will be exactly a year since the Pakistani woman’s teenage son met with a tragic car accident on March 10, 2006, in which he lost his best friend.

Recounting the fateful day, in an attempt to sound a warning to all other parents and youngsters, Yasmeen says, “It was my mistake that I had left the keys of the car on the table, of which my 16-year-old son Mohammed took advantage. If he knew what was in store for him and his friend, he would have never taken the risk.”

Her son, who does not have a licence, took his friend, 16-year-old Fahad Shoaib, to a joy ride that turned into his last journey.

As Mohammed was driving the car at a very high speed, with Shoaib sitting next to him, he suddenly lost control of the vehicle. The car hit a road barrier and overturned, killing Shoaib on the spot and leaving Mohammed seriously injured.

Says Yasmeen, with the melancholy clearly showing in her eyes: “I do not mean to hurt the sentiments of the deceased boy’s family by speaking about the incident after a year. But I just want to warn youngsters of the perils of fast and furious driving. Shoaib was like a son to me. He used to spend more time at my house than his own.”

The scars of that day will never wither away. “My son has still not recovered from the guilt. He is scarred for his life. The pain and suffering we experience every day is unbearable. The sound of an ambulance siren plunges us both into an ocean of pain, misery and repentance,” she reveals.

Yasmeen says that her son, who spent over 20 days in juvenile prison after the accident, has developed ailments that cannot be explained even by the medical science.

“He has developed blood pressure at this young age. He also gets shivering attacks time and again,” she says.

“For her distraught son, the guilt and regret refuse to go away even after religious explanations. The damage has already been done,” rues Yasmeen.

“I request all mothers to keep a close watch on their children. However reliable you son might be during his driving, always keep his age in mind. Take into consideration all factors such as games, programmes and events that promote the idea of fast and furious driving. All this can ignite a passion for furious driving and mislead the youth,” she points out.