Dubai: A Dubai couple is struggling to raise over Dh100,000 to save the life of their first-born who arrived pre-term at 25 weeks last month.
Sam Johnson, 33, from Kerala, India says the Dubai hospital where his son Joel is currently being kept at the neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU) is asking him almost every day to pay up. “I have no money left and don’t know where to go begging,” says Johnson who makes Dh4,000 per month as an air-conditioning supervisor.
He says his wife Sujole’s pregnancy was coming along just fine till her accidental delivery when she had to be rushed to a hospital because of sudden hypertension that resulted in heavy bleeding. Doctors had to perform an emergency caesarian as Sujole’s condition deteriorated. “We had packed our bags to take the flight home on June 17 but then this happened, ” says Johnson. “My wife has been discharged from the hospital now but her final bill alone amounts to Dh16,000. On top of that I am told I have to pay around Dh2,500 per day just for my son’s NICU care. Doctors say he could be there for another 40-50 days,” says Johnson who estimates he might need to pay well over Dh150,000 at the end of it all.
One of his cousins said the couple are on the brink. “With no money or help, their backs are against the wall. Any financial help – big or small – will do for them,” she said.
Baby’s arrival hours before flight back home shocks dad
Sharjah: Parents of a pre-term baby boy battling for life in an Ajman hospital are pleading for urgent help.
Indian draughtsman Jinu Rajan, 32, who earns Dh6,800 says he has paid Dh40,000 to the hospital already - borrowing from friends and using his credit card – but his son’s medical costs keep mounting. “We still need to pay the intensive care unit charges and other medical costs. We have tried reaching out to charities but haven’t got any help,” adds Rajan, who has been given an estimate of Dh72,536 that includes around Dh48,000 for 14 days of neo-natal intensive care Unit (NICU) and over Dh10,000 for NICU care at Dh850 per day besides Dh14,000 towards laboratory and radiology investigations and medicines. “This was only for the first 14 days but after that the baby developed fresh complications this week. The bill has now crossed Dh100,000 as he remains critical and on life support,” says the man from Kerala.
His wife Oshiya Jinu, 28, delivered baby Chris on May 23, the day she and her husband were due to fly home. The expected date of delivery was July 25. “My wife went into intense labour and delivered just hours before we were to fly to Kochi. Now we are stuck without money,” says Rajan. More than a fortnight after he was born, baby Chris – weighing just over 1.5 kg - remains on a ventilator.
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