The former director of Dubai Police’s women’s prison thought a committee was coming to inspect her house. Exhausted after helping emergency teams at a major fire, she agreed to the visit and went back to sleep.
When she later opened the door, she found Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai, standing there instead.
Recounting the encounter on Arab Cast podcast, Jameela Al Zaabi said one sentence from his visit remained especially clear in her memory: “We are proud of you.”
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The former director of Dubai Police’s women’s prison shared the recollection Arab Cast podcast. Sheikh Mohammed’s visit to her Al Warqa home on March 30, 2008, after her work during the Al Quoz warehouse fire.
A graduation plan interrupted
Al Zaabi had planned to attend a graduation ceremony for paramedic students. One student, an only child with an elderly mother, had asked her to be there, she recalled.
She got ready that morning intending to attend. But a fire call came through at about 7am, two hours before the ceremony was due to begin.
Already at work, she asked a colleague to go with her to see what had happened. At the scene, the scale of the flames was unlike anything she had expected, she said.
Emergency personnel worked according to their specialisms. Al Zaabi described her own concern for the people who were injured and for the responders working close to the danger.
She said: "My fear for the people working was greater than thinking about where I was or even what I was wearing.”
She lost track of time as they continued to respond to the blaze. Colleagues eventually urged her to rest when the situation eased. After briefly returning home, she went back to the scene and continued working until the following morning.
Her work at the fire was documented at the time. Al Bayan reported that she spent about 17 hours at the blaze, helping injured people and assisting people away from danger. Dubai Protocol also recorded her work with the Dubai Unified Ambulance Centre during the emergency.
An unexpected visitor
Back at home, Al Zaabi received a call checking whether she was well and telling her that a committee would come to see the house. Recalling the call, she said she was too tired to make much of the explanation.
When another call confirmed the visit, she welcomed it without connecting it to her work.
Only when she opened the door did she discover who had come. The Ruler of Dubai was there to recognise her efforts.
His words of appreciation made her feel like the work that she considered to be her duty had been noticed. She said, “I felt that I was the happiest person in the world.”
‘Mother of Ambulance’
Dubai Protocol’s report on the visit said Sheikh Mohammed praised Al Zaabi’s efforts, ordered her promotion and gave her the title 'Mother of Ambulance'.
For Al Zaabi, the encounter was not only a public recognition of one emergency response. She said it renewed her motivation to work and made her feel that her contribution was valued.
The memory remained with her long after the fire the unexpected visitor at her door, and his message that her work mattered.