Okaz/Saudi Gazette JAZAN — Basma Al-Enizi, the ‘brain dead' Saudi scholarship student ordered by Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman to be transported to her home town of Hail from a hospital in Portland, will not be the only such patient on the flight home. Along with her will be Ibtihal Abu Jabal, a 28-year-old scholarship student at Indiana University, declared brain dead by a hospital in the US. Abu Bakr Taher Talibi, Ibtihal's husband, said he is extremely thankful and grateful to the efforts of the Saudi Embassy to transport his wife to the Kingdom for further treatment. "My wife suffered from anemia. She was having blood transfusions. But one day she felt body ache. She went to the hospital for checkup but her condition worsened. She was admitted to the hospital and after a few days she had a stroke which caused her to go into a coma," said Talibi. He said the hospital informed him on Tuesday that his wife was brain dead. "The hospital told me that they will remove her life-support system after three days as it was hospital's regulations. I immediately contacted the Saudi Embassy to transport my wife to the Kingdom. The embassy informed me that she will be transported to the Kingdom along with Basma Al-Enizi," said Talibi. Abdulilah Abu Jabal said his sister Ibtihal was pursuing Master's in Childhood Education at Indiana University. "She was on a scholarship and was in her last year. She studied at Jazan University. We are grateful to the Saudi government," said Abu Jabal. He also said her entire family has hope that Ibtihal will regain consciousness. A Saudi medical evacuation aircraft landed at Portland, Oregon, Friday to airlift Basma, the Saudi scholarship student who has been in Providence Hospital in the city for more than two weeks with brain damage after a severe asthma attack. Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, second deputy premier and minister of defense, ordered a medical team and aircraft to the US to bring Basma back so she can be treated at King Khaled Hospital in Hail, her home town. Health Ministry's spokesman Faisal Al-Zahrani said King Khaled Hospital is now prepared and ready to receive Basma. Basma's husband described Deputy Crown Prince Muhammad as a "noble hero" and said he could not thank him enough for his humanitarian gesture. Nearly 60,000 Saudi students were enrolled at American colleges in 2014-15, making Saudi Arabia the fourth-largest country of origin for international students in the US. Saudi Arabia's foreign university scholarship program, started in 2005, has led to big increases in the number of Saudi students at US universities. Earlier this month, the Saudi government approved more strict eligibility rules for its foreign university scholarship program.
