Cops drag grieving dad from terminally ill daughter, 6, in shocking video as docs insist she be allowed to die
Shocking and horrifying video footage showed how a grieving father was dragged away violently from his dying daughter, 6, in a hospital. The footage shows how the father was aggressively manhandled away from the bedside of his dying child shortly after he was told that her life support was being taken away. The heart-wrenching footage taken from the body camera of a police officer shows the very moment that Rashid Abbasi, a hospital consultant, was taken away from his terminally ill child by an officer holding onto his neck.
Click to see video that was obtained by the MailOnline here. Abbasi, 59, who had worked in the NHS for more than 30 years, had his legs and ankles strapped together while being wheeled away on a trolley from the bedside of his child Zainab. Abbasi's wife, Aliya, a former doctor, had been grabbed from behind and she fell backward onto the floor screaming. The incident had taken place inside a hospital in the North of England that MoS cannot be named for legal reasons. The parents of Zainab had been in a constant dispute and disagreement with doctors over the care of their child. Medics had insisted that the child be allowed to die but the family had fought hard for further treatment and were convinced that it would keep her alive.
The hospital had called the authorities to Zainab's bedside post a complaint regarding Abbasi's behavior. Zainab had been suffering from respiratory issues and a rare genetic illness, Niemann-Pick disease, which meant she was likely to die during her childhood. The couple had been clashing with doctors over Zainab's treatment for years. The duo had revealed that on two previous occasions when Zainab had been critically ill, they had successfully managed to argue with the doctors to get her treated with steroids and had been proved right when her condition improved.
The incident had occurred last year in August when the doctors had told the family that Zainab was dying. An audio recording showed how a doctor had told them that "the next steps would involve taking her off the ventilator". The parents begged for further tests but the doctors refused. One of the doctors had said, "We are not going to be doing any more going round in circles. You will never come to terms with this." The medics also gave a letter to the parents which restricted their visiting hours, saying that the staff felt "threatened and intimidated" by Abbasi. After Abbasi had stormed out of the meeting, the hospital staff called the police. They claimed that Abbasi had pushed a senior doctor who had stopped him from returning to the bedside of his child. Just half an hour later, four police officers and two security guards were at the dying child's bedside.
As per the footage, the parents were asked to leave their child to talk outside but they refused. After five minutes, the parents were visibly manhandled with no compassion shown from any of the staff or cops. The grieving father, who has some serious heart conditions, was forced on the floor and as he complained of chest pains, he was told "you've brought this on yourself". Abbasi told MoS, "The pictures speak for themselves. They behaved like barbarians. They were not prepared to listen. My daughter was given a death sentence half an hour before they arrived."
Zainab passed away in September. On Friday, July 31, the family won a legal battle to partially lift reporting restrictions.