A Palestine Action prisoner suffering from a muscle-wasting condition has told Middle East Eye that the prison he is held in in the UK has failed to provide him with adequate walking aids and treatment, leaving him to crawl around the jail.
Muhammad Umer Khalid, who is being held on remand at HMP Wormwood Scrubs on charges in connection with a break-in to an RAF air base in June last year, suffers from muscular dystrophy - a rare genetic condition that is incurable but requires regular exercise and high protein meals, which he says the prison has failed to provide him.
He said that, because he is locked up in his cell for 23 hours a day, his mobility has deteriorated since last October. Now, he says he is unable to walk at all, forcing him to crawl around the prison, including to collect his medication.
“I've had to crawl across the prison floor in front of dozens of prisoners, as if I'm some wounded dog, just for the ability to be able to see my family and friends or for the ability to go to a legal appointment,” Khalid told MEE via an intermediary.
He said the prison was slow to respond to his multiple requests for a wheelchair. Even after a prison physiotherapist confirmed his need for one on 14 March, he did not receive it until 27 March.
