UAE | General
Newborn can’t go home until hospital bills are cleared
Unable to pay hospital bills, couple seek help to take home their baby girl born with brain cysts after 16 years of marriage
- By Sharmila Dhal, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:27 December 12, 2012
- Image Credit: Pankaj Sharma/Xpress
- Thradhi Kumar, one an a half month old girl, is stuck in hospital until her Dh100,000 bills is paid.
Dubai: An Indian couple who’ve had a baby girl after 16 long years of marriage cannot take her home as they can’t afford to pay the hospital bills, XPRESS has learnt.
Lateesh Kumar, father of infant Thridhi, said fate has played a cruel trick on the family with one mishap after another befalling them. “I was so happy when my wife Sini conceived through in-vitro fertilisation after 16 years of our marriage. But the joy was short-lived as our baby was born prematurely with multiple cysts in the brain. I was also rendered jobless around the same time,” said Kumar, who used to work as a heavy-duty driver.
Premature delivery
He said he and his wife were planning to return to India for good in November. “But as luck would have it, Sini broke water and had to be rushed to Dubai Hospital where she delivered the baby early on October 19.”
A doctor at the hospital confirmed that Thridhi was born prematurely at 29 weeks. “She weighed 1.2 kg and was kept in the neonatal intensive care unit which is the normal procedure till the weight reaches 1.8kg. This takes at least six to eight weeks. The baby is active now, clinically stable and is sucking well. She is ready for discharge. But she has multiple cysts in the brain which can affect her neurologically in future. So she needs follow-up in both neonatal and neurological clinics.”
According to medical records, the baby was ready for discharge on November 29. But with Kumar unable to pay the bill or arrange for her future treatment elsewhere, she remains in the hospital. With each passing day, the costs are said to be increasing by around Dh3,000. Laila Al Haddad, head of the hospital’s Social Care Unit, said Kumar owed the hospital Dh120,000 as of December 9.
Kumar said he cannot manage the money on his own. “We spent so much on my wife’s IVF treatment in India. I have no way of paying the hospital bill or for the future treatment that Thridhi will need.” He said he had earlier borrowed Dh31,000 from friends and family which he still has to repay.
“We are in a desperate situation and do not know what to do. Please, please, help us and find us a solution.”
If you wish to help the family, write to editor@xpress4me.com
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