Al Maktoum Hospital was Dubai's first hospital
Opened in 1951. Closed 2009
First Western Baby born there in 1963
Site to be redeveloped to include
"A heritage Souk, residential, commercial and hospitality components and a healthcare component".
My wife was Nursing Sister at Al Maktoum Hospital in 1971
She was in charge of Out Patients Department
My wife left a message one morning on my office answer phone "Come quickly"
"There's a huge fish in our Mortuary - Bring your Camera"
So that's what I did.
My office was in Port Rashid so that meant a drive along Al Mina Road, Bank Street then on to Al Maktoum Bridge (No Toll Ticket needed going this way. I'd need one coming back), around the the Clock Tower Roundabout, down Al Maktoum Street into Al Nasr Square then Al Maktoum Hospital Road and finally Al Maktoum Hospital.
I found the sign "To the Mortuary" and, eventually, the Mortuary.
Al Maktoum Hospital as it used to be
My wife was waiting for me.
"Have you brought your camera?". I had. "Where's this fish?".
I was taken into another section of the Mortuary and there, laid out on a wooden slab was a huge round fish.
It resembled an oversized discus with fins, eyes and a gaping mouth.
The fish was very dead and starting to show signs it had been dead for some time.
"What's the story?"
A group of Ras Al Khaimah Fishermen had caught this fish in their nets offshore. They had not seen anything like it before.
Initially these Fishermen didn't know what to do. They finally decided to bring this unique fish to Dubai to find someone who could identify it.
They were directed to Al Maktoum Hospital as the best place to deal with a large dead fish!!
I dutifully took some photographs of the fish then made my way back to my office, paying an Al Maktoum Bridge Toll on the way.
Later word came through the fish had been identified as a Sun Fish, a fish that is rarely seen.
Apparently they can grow to a much larger size than the fish in Al Maktoum Hospital's Mortuary.
The fish was no longer in a state where it could be preserved.
Fish was reduced to a skeleton then put on display in Dubai Museum, Al Fahidi Fort.