Fundraising appeal set up for seriously ill Tipperary man trapped in Dubai

The family of a seriously ill Clonmel man unable to leave Dubai for the past 12 years due to a travel ban, has set up a fundraising campaign to assist with his huge medical costs.

The Bring John (Chalkie) Home GoFundMe appeal was set up last Thursday and is in aid of 68-year-old John White, a native of Ard Fatima, Clonmel. He has been in Sheikh Khalifa Hospital in Dubai since suffering a severe stroke on March 21. 

The Irish Embassy in Abu Dhabi is liaising with the United Arab Emirates(UAE) authorities to  get the former construction businessman repatriated home to Ireland on compassionate grounds.

This is the second stroke the father-of-eight has suffered during his enforced stay in Dubai that originally arose from outstanding debts incurred by his construction company in the UAE that collapsed after being hit hard in the global economic crash of over a decade ago. 

Eileen O’Brien, one of  four sisters of John’s living in Clonmel, said her brother’s condition is not good following his recent stroke.  

“He has lost sight in one eye and has only 50% vision in the other eye. He is unable to speak more than a couple of words,” she explained.  

“His short-term and long-term memory are  very badly affected. He has a clot on his brain that cannot be removed with medication alone. 

“He needs to be repatriated to Ireland where he can get the treatment he so badly needs and begin the long road to recovery.”

Eileen, who lives at Slievenamon Road in Clonmel, said neither John nor his family are in a position to pay the huge medical expenses for his hospital treatment in Dubai. His hospital bill, so far,  is €11,000. 

He  also needs financial support for his repatriation to Ireland.

 Eileen said John is due to be discharged from hospital next  Monday and they fear for his welfare after that. An English friend of his living in Dubai has been visiting him in hospital  and ensuring he has clean clothes and other essentials. 

His family in Ireland are afraid to travel to Dubai in case the authorities detain them like they have  John. 

“It’s a horrible, horrible situation. It’s terrible when he is so far away. We need funding urgently,” said Eileen. 

She described the past 12 years her  brother has spent in Dubai as a living “nightmare”.   He said goodbye to his family at Dublin Airport in September 2011 and hasn’t set foot in Ireland since. 

His construction business in the United Arab Emirates was hit hard by the Great Recession of 2008/2009, and he was unable to make payments to suppliers because his clients failed to pay him.

He spent four-and-a-half years incarcerated in what his family say were “extreme and inhumane circumstances” in Al Wathba Prison in the desert after a civil case was taken against him for the non-payment of debts.

He was released from prison in 2017 but  the courts retained his passport as the law in the UAE stipulates that a person must pay all debts before leaving the country. 

The stress of the situation took its toll on his health and he suffered his first stroke in Dubai in April, 2018. Eileen said the clot on his brain that now requires surgery to remove it was first detected back then. 

John’s family set up  a  successful GoFundMe campaign in 2018 for John after that stroke to assist with his post-stroke medical treatment and rehabilitation.  

She explained the UAE authorities agreed in 2018 to waive John’s outstanding debts and he was about to board a plane home to Ireland that year when he suffered another devastating blow. 

He was at the airport and his bags were on the plane but the airport authorities looked up his status and stopped him from boarding because his trade licence to operate a business in the UAE was still open.   He was directed to go to court to cancel the licence but was unable to complete this procedure as he failed to secure  co-operation from his sponsor in the UAE, who was his former business partner.  In most cases, foreigners operating businesses in the UAE must have a local sponsor as they are not allowed to own a company there outright.  

On top of this setback, the Covid pandemic further delayed  John’s return home. 

Eileen said his family don’t want to go back to the public again appealing for more funds but they don’t see there is any other way of securing the financial help John needs quickly for his medical treatment and repatriation.  

The GoFundMe campaign is called Bring John (Chalkie) Home as Chalkie is the nickname many people know John by. 

Eileen said John has missed out so much on his family life in Ireland due to the  travel ban. He has never met his eight grandchildren and was unable to attend the funerals of his brothers Joe (47) and Tommy (50).  

John’s family fervently hope he will finally be repatriated home and are appealing to the public o support them  in their efforts to pay for his medical expenses and repatriation. 

Independent TD Mattie McGrath highlighted John’s plight with Taoiseach Leo Varadker in the Dáil shortly after his  stroke. The Taoiseach has pledged to follow up the case.

 Anyone wishing to donate should log onto:  www.gofundme.com and go to the campaign titled Bring John (Chalkie) Home.