RIYADH – In her first interview following the amputation of her right hand, Samirah Al-Ghamdi, 28, whose husband died following a car chase by members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai'a), expressed her gratitude to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and Crown Prince Salman, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, for their concern, a local daily reported. Samirah and her two children, one in a critical condition, have been hospitalized in the National Guard's King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh. Samirah, who is pregnant, lost her husband, Abdulrahman Ahmad Al-Ghamdi when the Hai'a engaged the couple and their two children in a high speed car chase until their car fell off a bridge. The Hai'a had become involved in an argument with Abdulrahman after they complained about the volume of his car's stereo. “On that day, my husband tried to talk me into attending a wedding of one of his relatives but I refused because I didn't feel well due to my pregnancy," Samirah recalled. She said she asked her husband to drop her off at her mother's and pick her up on his way back from the wedding. Shortly after midnight, her husband picked her and the couple's two children up. He decided to take his kids for a short picnic. Then they all got in the car and prepared to go back home. After they passed a checkpoint on their way back from the park, the Hai'a started chasing them at a high speed. She said that the car's stereo had been playing loudly as her husband had been singing along with their children. Samirah said she wonders how she will carry her baby when he is born. Though the medical team supervising her case assured her that she will be given a prosthetic hand, Samirah feels it will not be the same. She said she is deeply saddened that her new born baby will grow up without a father. So far, Samirah has refused to see her children – who are in the same hospital – especially following the amputation surgery as she fears seeing them would cause her psychological condition to worsen. She is reluctant to talk with anyone, and spends her time sleeping. Her son Khalid's condition is still critical and unstable, as he slips in and out of coma. Her daughter, Dorar, sustained a fracture to her left hand. The family also does not own a house and Samirah hopes that the government will provide her and her children a home close to her mother who lives in Dammam.
