Dubai: A Dubai-based dance instructor is holding a two-hour Zumba session on Saturday to raise funds for a Filipino couple who are struggling to pay a massive hospital bill for their premature baby, who passed away last month.
Leslie Ramirez May along with with 12 other dance instructors will host what they claim will be a huge marathon Zumba session at a fitness centre in Al Quoz.
The bereaved couple – Rollie Tindugan and his wife Rhodora – have to cough up Dh250,000 to pay for the hospital’s neonatal intensive care.
“We are expecting around 200 people to attend the session. All proceeds from the event will go towards settling Rollie’s bills,” said May. “When I read about Rollie’s plight on Facebook, I could not contain myself. For the last one month, the baby’s body has been lying in a mortuary waiting to be repatriated as the parents don’t have money to take it home,” saifd May.
Baby Timothy, the couple’s second child, born 26 weeks premature at a Dubai hospital, died on June 26 due to health complications.
Community spirit
Speaking to XPRESS, Rollie said the Filipino community in Dubai has come out to support him financially, but a lot remains to be done. “What we have been through in the past six months is simply terrible. My wife and I have both lost our jobs, then our visas expired in May – and now our baby son has gone. Only a miracle can get us out of the mess we are in.
“Just imagine, my wife and I will not be able to say our final goodbye to our little son in Philippines as we are stuck here without a valid residence permit. We will be sending our baby on his own and a friend will do the final rites in the Philippines.”
Last week, Rollie and his friends held a workshop to teach students 3D illumination and 3D maps in order to raise funds. “We raised some money from this. I am very grateful for all the support I am getting. Right now my priority is to get my son home. The Philippines embassy has told me it should happen at the earliest,” he said.
