Baby Aleeyah gets life-saving liver transplant

Abu Dhabi: Grace Carungay is extremely happy. She is now the mother of a healthy baby aged one year and nine months, and her gratitude to the Rulers and people of the UAE is immense.

“At the beginning of this year, I was afraid I would lose my darling daughter, Aleeyah. But people empathised with my situation, and their generous donations meant that I could afford a life-saving liver transplant for Aleeyah,” the 31-year-old Filipina said.

As reported by ‘Gulf News’ in January (2015), Aleeyah, who was born in March 2014, was diagnosed with biliary atresia, a life-threatening liver disease in which vessels known as bile ducts are damaged. These ducts are responsible for carrying a fluid called bile, which is produced by the gall bladder, to the liver for storage, and from the liver to the small intestine for digesting food. Bile helps in the digestion of fats. The ducts also allow for toxins and waste products to be carried out of the body.

The only effective treatment for biliary atresia is a liver transplant in advanced cases like Aleeyah’s. The procedure was however out of reach for Carungay, as it costs more than Dh330,000. In addition, the procedure was available at a hospital in Taiwan, which meant that Carungay, who brought home only Dh2,500 a month from her job as an administrator, also had to arrange for living expenses like rent.

Without the transplant, Aleeyah’s health was deteriorating rapidly. The baby, who was living with her grandmother and aunt in Manila while Carungay worked in the capital, was also only able to drink a special formula that was much more expensive than normal baby formula.

“A member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family stepped in to pay towards surgical costs and living expenses, while many readers sent in funds for my daughter’s surgery and Aleeyah had a successful transplant in June with my sister as her liver donor,” Carungay said.

“We were all able to return to Manila in August.”