A 32-year-old Indian dentist from Kerala has died after suddenly collapsing at her home in the UAE’s Sharjah. The woman was identified by her family as Dr Afeena Raheem, Gulf News reported. She had been living in Sharjah with her husband, Yasar T, and their two children, aged three-and-a-half and one-and-a-half years, for more than four years.
According to her family, Afeena had taken a career break from dentistry to look after her children. “She wanted to be home with the children, especially since they are so young. Right now, I have my sister here. She is taking care of the children,” her husband Yasser said.
He said she was in good health and had no known underlying medical conditions before she suddenly collapsed. Afeena’s husband, who works as a teacher, was at work when the incident happened.
“She was at home when the incident occurred. Preliminary reports say she collapsed and died. We don’t know the actual reason yet,” Yasser told Khaleej Times.
His sister, Ramsheena, who lives in the same house with her son, was also at home at the time. She had sent her son to school before going back to sleep. Ramsheena later woke up after hearing one of Afeena’s children crying. When she went to check, she found Afeena collapsed in the kitchen.
“She was on leave and had gone back to bed when I called her around 9am. She later woke up after hearing the cries of Afeena’s younger child, “Ramsheena’s husband Hakeem told Gulf News.
Ramsheena immediately began performing CPR while Afeena was rushed to hospital. However, doctors could not revive her.
The exact cause of death has not yet been established.
The family had returned to the UAE from their summer vacation in India less than a month before the tragedy. They returned to Sharjah on August 19, Hakeem said.
The family is now completing the necessary paperwork and waiting for the death certificate before Afeena’s body can be repatriated to Kerala. Her parents and two sisters are in India, and her final rites are expected to be held in her hometown of Malappuram.
