How Dubai community filled this child's hole in the heart

Five-year-old Talha, who suffers from an acute heart condition, can look forward to living a normal life after he undergoes a critical operation this week thanks to funds raised by Coral Beach Resort - Sharjah and Corp Executive Hotel Apartments Al Barsha, which were handed over to the family on May 24.

“Talha is the nephew of Farman Ali, who works in the engineering department (maintenance) of Coral Beach Resort - Sharjah. He has a hole in the heart and the doctors told the family he had to be operated within three weeks of the time when our HR department undertook the fund-raising campaign.

"The response from our colleagues and associates has been overwhelming and beyond our expectations and little Talha is now all set to undergo the critical life-saving operation,” observed Jean Pierre Simon, Regional General Manager, Northern Emirates, Coral Hotels & Resorts.

Farman Ali was equally overwhelmed, asking Allah to bless all those who had responded to his appeal. In a thank you note written on behalf of the family he expressed “my sincere and heartfelt gratitude for the assistance you have given to my nephew”.

Jean Pierre also expressed a sense of pride in the spontaneous and heart-warming response of the staff to the plea of a colleague.

“This humanitarian gesture reinforces one’s faith in the human spirit and shows that our team is a close knit family that cares for all its members and rallies around them in times of distress. That is the true meaning of humanity and being human,” he said.

According to Jean Pierre this attitude permeates the value system of the Coral Hotels & Resorts group, where caring for guests and the community is not something forced but a natural state of mind. For the group, its hotels are part of the community and the community is part of its family oriented hotels that are respectful of local culture and traditions.

That is why the group has a strong corporate social responsibility philosophy that reflects in the many community initiatives its member hotels undertake, whether in the field of sports, public health or environmental awareness.

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