DUBAI // Christopher Sacramento, father of baby Nicholas, is overwhelmed and grateful for the progress made by his son – one of the UAE’s tiniest surviving micro-premature babies.
Those same emotions show on Christopher’s face when he speaks of those who have helped with his baby’s arduous welcome to the world.
“When I see Nicholas, I see Dubai, I see the people in this country who helped,” he says. “When I see his face, I see the faces of the doctors who helped to save him.”
Christopher and his wife Suzie are no longer burdened by a Dh80,000 medical debt after his employer, gym equipment and fitness company Technogym, and the insurance provider agreed with Zulekha Hospital in Dubai to pay at a discounted rate.
An anonymous donor paid for a critical hour-long eye surgery in March after reading in The National about the family's struggles. The donor remains in touch with the family and offered to pay for a hernia operation next month.
And donations continue to come in by email and Facebook.
But the Sacramento family, from the Philippines, are not the kind of people to show their gratitude solely with words. They are trying to help another family whose premature child did not survive.
The Tindugan family, also from the Philippines, lost their Timothy on June 26 when he stopped breathing at home.
The family owes Dh250,000 in medical bills for a two-month stay in a neonatal intensive care unit (Nicu). The father cannot hope to pay the amount after losing his job a month before Timothy was born in April.
“We still don’t have much ourselves and have been blessed by people helping us, but I cannot always rely on others and must do my part as a father,” Christopher says. “I tell people about Timothy’s family, who are in the same situation I was in last year.”
With consent from well-wishers who have given generously to the Sacramentos, they will offer Dh3,000 to the Tindugan family.
Suzie says the Tindugans’ tragedy is all too familiar.
“We were heartbroken to hear what happened to their child,” she says. “I didn’t want Nicholas out of my arms when I heard – I thought of so many ‘what ifs’. It’s like all those months he was in the Nicu were nothing.”
Nicholas now recognises his parents and elder brother Amiel, greets strangers with broad smiles, announces he is hungry with loud cries and is fascinated by bright colours.
“We are not so afraid to go outside or afraid about infections now,” Suzie says. “Clothes for a six-month baby are too big for him and people who see him for the first time think he is a newborn. But he will grow bigger.”
Nicholas returns to hospital next month for the hernia surgery and for hearing tests. He was born weighing just half a kilogram and measuring 21 centimetres.
At 9 months, he remains under the average weight for a baby that age, which is 5kg, but his parents and doctors are hopeful of steady growth.
Dr Monika Kaushal, consultant neonatologist at Zulekha, says it can take three years for a premature baby to catch up.
“He needs more nutrition, so we put him on formula milk with more proteins and calories than normal formula but he has not gained weight, so we will watch that,” Dr Kaushal says.
“He failed an initial hearing test so we will go for another evaluation. It sometimes takes two to three years to catch up with term birth. There will still be some lag just because of prematurity.”
The Sacramentos are enjoying their first holiday in the Philippines since Nicholas was born.
“This is an exciting time for us, a time to give thanks,” Christopher says. “The grandparents are thrilled because they finally got to hold the baby they had seen surrounded by tubes and wires in photos. They get to see him smile.”
rtalwar@thenational.ae