Born with brain deformities, Nabihah needs constant hospital care, but her parents’ insurer says it can no longer pay the Dh120,000 a month needed to keep her alive.
DUBAI // The doctors caring for one-year-old Nabihah Yahya see their job as a blessing. Nurses compete to dress her, brush her hair and put ribbons in her curls.
“She’s an angel and a gateway to heaven. There isn’t a single staff member who doesn’t love her and want to be the one looking after her,” said her doctor, at a private hospital in Dubai.
Nabihah was born with brain deformities and fluid in her brain. At 10 days old she needed an operation to drain that fluid.
“When I was six months pregnant the doctor told me that she had water in her brain and would require surgery,” said Nabihah’s mother, Fatima Abdelrazak. “Her father and I thought that after they removed the water, that would be the end of it.”
The Yemeni couple, who have two other children, aged 5 and 6, were relieved to take Nabihah home.
“We were so happy when we took her home. She looked like an angel. She even started breastfeeding,” Ms Abdelrazak said. But two weeks later, Nabihah stopped breathing and had to be taken to hospital.
“She went blue and we were sure that she had died,” said her father, Mohammed Yahya.
The couple were told that their daughter had brain deformities and would require constant care.
Medical staff prepared her for another operation and a tube was inserted into her stomach to feed her. Doctors informed the couple that their girl could never go home.
“At any time, Nabihah could stop breathing and need oxygen. She also has frequent seizures and needs long-term rehabilitation,” the paediatric surgeon in charge said.
“She has to remain in the hospital for life. If she goes home, she will die.”
Nabihah’s vital organs are functioning normally and apart from her brain problems, she is thriving. “When her brother brings her a toy, she moves her hands, and I can see that she is happy,” her mother said. “In the beginning I couldn’t stop crying.
“I completely shut myself out from everyone else, but now I cry less. I’ve accepted it and believe that Nabihah is a blessing from God. We all love her very much.”
Early this year, the family’s insurance company said it could no longer pay for the hospital fees. The cost of keeping her alive is Dh120,000 a month, which the family can no longer afford.
“I’ve gone to every charity and knocked on every door,” said Mr Yahya.
The hospital has been very patient, but he wonders how long it that can last. Eventually, if the family cannot pay, Nabihah will be discharged, he said. “She will come home and die.”
Hisham Al Zahrani, manager of zakat and social services at Dar Al Ber Society, said: “Nabihah is a beautiful, cheerful young girl who, with proper care, can live as long as any other person.
“We don’t want to lose her, and we ask that readers please help to keep her alive.”
salnuwais@thenational.ae
