A Childhood Marred By Illness

Noor Alam sold off his house and farm to bring his son Sabbir to India for a life-saving operation. Sabbir needs surgery that will close the hole on his stomach and get rid of a dangerous infection. Noor Alam came to India  from Bangladesh with a sum of Rs 1lakhs, but he needs much more for the surgery. 

Sabbir loves to talk about getting better and going to school. He enjoys playing in the play area of Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore. The left side of his abdomen is always wet and smelly. When it becomes too wet, his father takes out fresh clothes from the bag he is always carrying around. 

Sabbir was born on September 5, 2007. He was his parents' bundle of joy. By the next day, the joy turned to despair and fear for his life. He was born without an anus and needed immediate corrective surgery. An opening was created on the baby's stomach from where he could defaecate.  

An year later, Sabbir fell sick again. He was feverish, weak and kept vomitting. He was diagnosed with a heart condition but no hospital was ready to operate on him. They came to Narayana Hrudayala, Bangalore to get Dr Devi Shetty himself to operate on him. 

The operation not only corrected the heart condition, but also closed the opening in Sabbir's  stomach. His parents were relieved. But after three years, Sabbir was once again to develop a serious health complication. 

At 5, he developed a urinary tract infection and was taken to the government hospital where he was admitted for the next two years from 2013-15. His infection did not get better, and once again, incisions were made on his stomach to divert the flow of urine. 

After two years of non-stop treatment, the doctors said that there was nothing more that could be done. But the parents were not ready to give up. “It was in Narayana Hrudayalaya that his life was saved the first time. We thought that if we came here, he would surely be saved,” said his mother Shilpi. 

Noor Alam sold his home, his farm, borrowed all the money he could and once again came to Bangalore to save Sabbir. “We came with Rs 80,000, they told us that we will need much more money. I have nothing left now,” he explains. 

Sabbir, his parents and his 1-year-old sister live in a small house close to the hospital. They pay a rent of Rs 250 per day and need to spend Rs 150 more every day on food. For now, they are eating the food left behind by a previous occupant – their daily menu being boiled rice and tomato curry. 

In this foreign land, they don't have a source of income. With the farm gone, they will not have a source of income or even a home when they go back. But the thought of saving Sabbir keeps them going.

 

Noor Alam and Shilpi have sacrificed everything to save their child. When even that is not enough, small help will go a long way in easing the suffering of this family. 

Donate now and save Sabbir.