Baby needs urgent surgery or she will lose her sight

Sharjah: A ten-month-old baby risks losing her sight unless she has surgery immediately, doctors have said.

Afra Ebrahim, who was born into a poor Arab family, was diagnosed with leukocoria (white pupil) in her left eye. Doctors at Tawaam Hospital say the main problem is that she has retinoblastoma, a rapidly developing cancer, in 60 to 70 per cent of the two-thirds of her eye.

The doctors have added her right eye is also affected.

Afra’s parents both work for Sharjah Police.

“Afra is my third baby, her elder brother and sister are normal and have suffered no sight deficiencies,” her mother told Gulf News.

Afra.s mother said she started to notice tears in Afra’s eyes a month ago, although she was not crying. She added Afra’s eyes reflected a kind of light in the dark.

“I was worried about my baby, I rushed to the police clinic who advised me to see an ophthalmologist.

“I went to the Iranian Hospital and to Zulekha Hospital who both confirmed to us that Afra had a tumour in her eye,” she said.

The mother, who has no money to treat her baby, was advised to visit Tawam Hospital’s oncology department to seek medication.

Afra’s doctor Stefan Scholtz, consultant, Ophthalmology Division at Tawaam Hospital, has recommended Dr Ashwin Reddy of London’s Moorfield Eye Hospital to treat Afra.

She said that the medical team at Tawaam Hospital were very responsive and did all the necessary tests at their advanced laboratories. Dr Scholtz said he had come across similar cases to that of Afra in the UAE and abroad. He said the case is curable in the UK and the chances of recovery are very high.

The family has begun to look for ways to save the baby’s sight, as it is rapidly deteriorating.

The mother said with tears in her eyes: “We only have an old car that we are selling but the problem is that it is not even close to help the baby.

“I am afraid that the baby will lose her sight completely and my hands are tied because I am of no help to her.”

Pain

She said it was their destiny to experience this but they are hopeful their daughter will be able to regain her sight.

“My baby is always nervous and crying all the time due to strong pain in her eyes, which makes a mother’s heart break,” she said.

According to the medical report it is very difficult to calculate the treatment cost at this stage but multiple visits to London will be necessary over a period of at least two years. Travel expenses, accommodation and consultation fees are estimated to be above Dh150,000.

“Afra should start within 14 days. There is no paediatric ophthalmic oncology expert in the UAE and Afra needs the best possible treatment,” the doctor said.