Dubai: A Dubai woman is making a desperate plea for help in raising funds for a ‘life saving’ bone marrow transplant for her husband.
Filipina Genna V Gagola, 33, who earns Dh2,500 as a sales executive at a furniture shop, says she needs 3,150,000 Phillippine pesos (around Dh260,000) for the procedure to be performed on her husband Alden, also 33, at a hospital back home in the Philippines.
Diagnosed with leukaemia
Alden, a line cook at a chain of restaurants on a Dh4,150 salary, stopped work last April after he was diagnosed with leukaemia. Following five cycles of chemotherapy he briefly returned to work last September only to be hospitalised again last month for a fresh cycle of chemotherapy.
“Doctors here have now referred Alden for bone marrow transplantation abroad because they say he is a high risk patient. Thankfully we have found a matching bone marrow donor in Alden’s sister in the Philippines but the hospital there needs us to pay 3 million pesos upfront. This doesn’t include out patient care and fees but this is still cheaper and convenient than say India or Germany,” explains Genna, who has set up a Facebook page called ‘Alden Gagola’s BONE Marrow Transplant FUND’.
On February 6, Genna also registered a stall at the Dubai Flea Market, managing to sell books, old clothes and 70 special T-shirts with the lines ‘Alden’s Battle is my Battle’ printed on them for Dh20 each. Yet she knows it’s a long battle ahead. “We got a nice response from people. Some were kind to buy for Dh25 and even Dh40 but we need much more help in much quicker time,” says the high school graduate who eventually raised Dh4,200 from the sales last Saturday.
“Time is running out for all of us. Alden’s insurance has borne the costs, to the tune of Dh27,0000, already for the five cycles of chemotherapy in the past but unfortunately we are close to maxing out and we still need a lot of funds,” explains Genna who has been married for over 8 years with Alden. “We have been a loving couple and we were even looking forward to having kids together. Please help us resume our normal lives together again,” pleads Genna who came to Dubai in 2011.
If you wish to help the family, write to editor@xpress4me.com
