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29 March 2024

Emirati child with brain tumour saved

Published
By Staff

An eight-year-old Emirati girl who UAE doctors had said could die within weeks unless she is treated of brain tumour abroad has fully recovered following months of chemical treatment in Germany at the expense of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council.

Sheikh Hamdan had decided to send Laila Al Baloushi urgently to Germany in November 2012 after learning about her illness through her father's BlackBerry appeals.
 
Before her travels, Laila was treated at Twam hospital in the eastern oasis town of Al Ain but doctors later told her parents that her condition required treatment abroad.
 
Laila had two surgeries at Twam, which has one of the best cancer treatment facilities in the region, before she went into coma and doctors lost hope.
 
“Laila is now much better and she is quickly but gradually recovering. The tumor in her head has died,” said her father Anwar from Ras Al Khaimah.
 
“Laila is back home and she hopes to see Sheikh Hamdan to thank him. We all express our gratitude to Sheikh Hamdan, whose initiative contributed to saving my daughter’s life,”he was quoted by the Arabic language daily Emarat Al Youm as saying.
 
He said Laila would return to Germany in September for follow-up at hospital, adding that she wishes to be able to go to school again after her return.
 
“Laila had a difficult time during treatment as it was a long process of chemical and nuclear treatment, but the results were amazing. Her blood pressure and temperature have returned to normal, her heartbeat became regular and she was able to move her eyes and recognise all of us. The last stage was that she was able to walk inside the hospital. She is doing very well now,” he said.
 
After spending three months at Twam Hospital in coma, her parents begged the doctors to do their best but their response was that her condition is hopeless and that no hospital inside the UAE would be able to treat her.
 
The desperate parents then used their Blackberry handset to send an “SOS” message, which somehow reached Sheikh Hamdan, according to Emarat Al Youm.
 
“As soon as Sheikh Hamdan heard about the girl, he immediately issued instructions to Dubai’s Health Authority to transport Laila by a private jet to the best cancer treatment centre in the world at once,” the paper said.
 
“She was taken to a famous centre in Germany, where she underwent intensive chemotherapy sessions. Laila later was out of her coma and immediately recognized her parents. They described what happened as a medical miracle.”
 
The paper quoted her father as saying “my daughter was considered a dead person but we never gave up hope that God the Almighty will save her. The results were really unbelievable and when she spoke to us, many people around cried.”
 
The paper said its phone call to Anwar while in Germany was interrupted by Laila, who asked to speak to the reporter.“Laila picked the phone and said ‘May God the Almighty give Sheikh Hamdan good health and long life. Please convey to him my greetings and thanks.”
 
The paper quoted Dr Khaled Al Qiwani, director of the Dubai health office in Germany, as saying the head of the medical team escorting Laila to Munich had first refused to take her to that city when he saw her medical report.
 
“We later managed to persuade him. After treatment, we were all very surprised to find that the big tumor in Laila’s brain shrank and became very small. Laila then regained her normal breath and her ability to move and talk,” he said.