No amount of money can replace my son: Oman bus crash victim’s dad

Muscat: No amount of money can replace Abdul Aziz’s son, who still cannot recognise family or friends three years after being critically injured in the 2014 Pakistan school bus accident.
Abdul’s son Faizal and his friend, Jawad Habib, were injured, while three other students from Pakistan School Muscat were killed, when their bus struck a vehicle belonging to Muscat Municipality on Qurum Heights Road on January 22, 2014.
Three years after the deadly accident, the injured children from Pakistan School are yet to lead their normal lives.
“Neither is he able to speak, nor is he able to recognise anybody. We consulted many doctors in Oman and back home in Pakistan. But everybody is saying that we should pray to God, so that he can lead a normal life,” Aziz said.
Aziz, who recently received compensation from the insurance company following the deadly accident, added, “No amount of money can replace my son. What will I do with the money? Can I get back my son? Can I return to him the last three years?” he asked.
Faizal suffered injuries to his head, chest, arms and legs during the bus accident. “His injuries were too severe, as he was sitting next to the conductor’s seat,” family members said.
The condition of another injured student, Jawad Habib is, however, better than Aziz. “Now he has started reacting to things and started behaving properly. But we can’t send him to school unless he fully recovers mentally,” his father, Habibul Rehman, said.
Habib was sitting in front after boarding the bus from Al Hail South, when it was involved in the accident at Qurum Heights Road.
While Faizal and Habib were injured in the accident, three other children, Fareeha, Owais Nasser, and Syed Fahad Abdul Haq, died in the crash.
School authorities said, “It was the most tragic incident in the history of PSM, where we lost three of our students, and two of the injured ones are still under treatment because of their severe cerebral injuries.”
“Life on the buses is still full of fear, as a lot of students have to travel from faraway places for their schooling in Muscat,” parents said.
It has been close to three years since the three students from Pakistan School were killed in the bus accident. that shook the nation, though parents say little has changed to improve school bus safety.