From Boston to Abu Dhabi: How a seven-year-old found world-class eye surgery

Abu Dhabi: Two years back, when Ali Ibrahim Mohamed Al Ameri and Shaima Abdulraheem Al Hosani first sought surgery to straighten their son’s eyes, it meant a long journey to a leading hospital in Boston. The Emirati couple, he with ADNOC and she in a government finance department, could have sought care anywhere. When seven-year-old Mohammed needed a second, more complex procedure years later, they stayed in Abu Dhabi.

Mohammed lives with a neurological condition that affects his balance and coordination, and he moves with the help of a walker. Over time, his eyes had begun to drift outward, a condition doctors call strabismus (when the two eyes do not point in the same direction). His three doting sisters noticed it before anyone else.

Mohammed’s first surgery, in Boston, corrected eyes that turned inward (doctors call this esotropia). As he grew, they drifted the opposite way. For years, families in the region travelled abroad for surgery of this difficulty; Mohammed’s family had already done exactly that. The second time, they chose Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Abu Dhabi.

“Bascom Palmer Abu Dhabi was established so that families here would not have to choose between their child and a plane ticket,” said Dr Zain Kenderian, MD, MBA, MStJ, CEO of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Abu Dhabi. “This is America’s No. 1 eye institute, delivering that standard inside the UAE, under the oversight of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi. A family who once flew to Boston now finds that care at home.”

Before the operation, Mohammed was honest about his fear. “I’m afraid,” he told the team. His father put it simply: “He is in God’s hands, and yours.”

Last month, Mohammed underwent surgery on both eyes to gently reposition the muscles that control eye movement, under a high-powered microscope that allows adjustments finer than a millimeter.

“This was a complex case in a child who had already had one operation abroad,” said Dr Noémi Roselló, MD, pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus specialist, who performed the surgery. “We used dissolvable stitches, so nothing needed removing. He went home the same day with both eyes uncovered, and by the next morning his alignment was excellent. For a child, that comfort matters as much as the result.”

Surgery like this depends on specialised anesthesia for children. “Anesthesia for a child with a neurological condition demands real expertise; our team is built for exactly these complex, high-risk cases,” said Dr Mohamed Beleil, MD, Head of Anesthesiology.

“Offering this level of specialised children's eye surgery in Abu Dhabi means our community can reach it here, where they live,” said Dr Nicola G. Ghazi, MD, Medical Director.

“Al hamdulillah, it was very easy and quick,” Mohammed's mother said afterward. Mohammed's own verdict was shorter: “It's done. I didn't feel anything. I'm very happy.”

Dr Kenderian added guidance for other families: “The goal is not only to straighten a child's eyes, but to support every child's sight, confidence, and quality of life. If a child's eyes do not seem to line up, it is worth having them checked. It is more common, and more treatable, than many families realise.”