Respected doctor dies after road accident: leave your tributes

Dr Mohammed Ikram Malik MBE (75) was in collision with a car as he walked from his Nelson surgery to the nearby mosque for prayers.

Dr Malik - who has also played a key role in community work in Pendle - had two major brain surgeries at Preston and remained unconscious until he died this morning.

His family hope witnesses who saw the accident will contact the police.

As well as being a long-serving GP in Nelson, Dr Malik from Reedley was also chairman of Building Bridges Pendle and PEEF - People’s Enterprise and Empowerment Forum. He had also been chairman of Pendle Community Safety Partnership for many years before handing the role to Coun. David Whipp.

He has carried out a significant amount of work to help build cohesion in the community and has been honoured by the Queen with an MBE for his contribution.

The tragedy happened near Morrisons in Pendle Street, Nelson, shortly before 2pm last Friday. Dr Malik was still an active GP at the Yarnspinners Health Centre next to the store.

His wife, recently retired fellow GP Dr Raisa Malik, said: “He was crossing Pendle Street near the roundabout - so I’m told - to go to the mosque for prayers.” He was in collision with a blue Vauxhall Astra driven by a woman. He remained conscious at the time and got himself up. But emergency services were called and he was taken by ambulance to the Royal Blackburn Hospital. Dr Malik’s son, Hammad, was contacted in Manchester and took Mrs Malik to the hospital.

Mrs Malik said: “He had severe headache when we arrived. He had a head injury and a scan showed he had a fracture from front to back and had haematoma.” Hammad, a medical consultant, suggested Dr Malik should be transferred to the neurosurgery at Preston after looking into his condition.

He was transferred to the Surgical Triage Unit at Preston where his condition was investigated. There was even a suggestion he should be transferred to a neurosurgery unit at Liverpool but he was transported to Preston’s surgical unit. Mrs Malik said: “They took him to the theatre early the next morning, to deal with his haematoma and relieve pressure on his brain. He was in theatre for three and a half hours. He was then transferred to the critical care unit at Preston Royal Hospital.”

By this stage he was fully unconscious. He needed a second brain operationwhen his condition deteriorated and was then fighting for his life.

Initially, police were treating it as a minor accident but have subsequently been looking for witnesses and have tracked down CCTV footage. They confirmed the investigation was ongoing and would like witnesses to ring them on 101.

Dr Malik’s funeral will take place at the Ghausia Mosque in Clayton Street, Nelson, on Friday at 2pm and it is expected many people will attend.

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said: “I am saddened to learn of the death of Dr Malik MBE. Since being elected, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to meet Dr Malik on regular occasions, and have been fortunate enough to witness the work he was involved in through a great many organisations, such as Building Bridges Pendle.

“His record of volunteering covered five different decades, and was recognised by Her Majesty the Queen in 1999. His passing is a loss to those organisations he supported, and to the community at large. My thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.”

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