19 days ago, Muhammad Scher Abu Hamed was diagnosed with brain cancer in a very advanced stadium (Medulloblastoma tumor with a grade IV). he needs immediate treatment at a specialized clinic or he will die, but such treatment is not available in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. his family received permission for a transfer to a specialized clinic in Jordan, but cannot afford to pay the ambulance or the accommodation for an accompanying adult.
in the three weeks, Mohammad was treated at four different hospitals. two weeks ago, Mohammad underwent surgery by a surgeon from Germany who had come to Ramallah for a brief period and has since left Palestine again. yesterday, Mohammad lost consciousness for the second time in the past two weeks and was taken back to Rafidiya hospital from where he was discharged only two days earlier as staff there thought they had exhausted their capacities to provide the necessary medical care.
Mohammad is dying unless we get him the medical treatment he would receive if he had been born Jewish or a citizen of many European countries, or…
please help, and please contact any organizations or individuals that could provide much needed funding. if anyone is able to donate, please contact supportibrahimandmohammad[at]autistici.org.
spread this, let’s make sure Mohammad does not die at age two because he was born Palestinian under Israeli military occupation.
dear all, am very sad to let you know that around two weeks ago, mohammad died… he did not undergo surgery or receive chemotherapy in jordan as physicians found that the tumor was at a place that couldn’t be operated or treated. sorry and thanks for your help
update monday, 20/2:
As explained yesterday, Mohammad underwent a surgery Saturday night where fluid was drained from his brain. He is now recovering, and in 2 or 3 days, he will hopefully be transferred to Jordan, where he will probably receive chemotherapy. PCRF is a great help!
Once he’s in Jordan, we will have more of an idea of what possible costs will arise that are unmet, and we will get back to you on that.
For now, thanks for your support!
thx, yes, we are in touch w steve, as he wrote. Here is yesterday’s (sunday,19/2) update. thx for ur support
Hello everyone,
thanks a lot for your emails and apologies for the late response. Rest assured that if the situation was still very urgent, I would have responded immediately (but as I will explain, it isn’t right now, which does not mean help is not needed, but because it was less urgent, and bc I had some sudden personal matters to attend to, I postponed writing you. still, i apologize).
The situation is the following?
In the meantime, we are now certain that the PA has agreed to get Mohammad transferred to madina hussain el tubeya hospital in Jordan. According to the transfer papers, the PA has vouched 95% of the treatment cost, with the family needing to come up with the remaining 5%. However, a source in the PA has said in a personal conversation that he would make sure they pay other 5% too. We are currently unclear which arrangement holds, but either way, Mohammad can get transferred to Jordan and start treatment while we sort out the funding matters.
Also, we have contacted Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, who signaled both monetary and other support. They have said that they will not let money stand in the way of getting Mohammad adequate treatment – I doubt that this will mean they can cover any costs that arise, but we do think this is a substantial source of help. PCRF have also visited Nablus with an international surgeon yesterday who was scheduled to examine Mohammad – I will let you know later if this took place and what the surgeon said. In addition, PCRF has provided a social worker who will follow up on Mohammad’s case (you can tell, we are currently very grateful for their support).
As for the ambulance, it looks like it will not be a problem to get those costs covered (either through PCRF or other). Things will become more clear when Mohammad is finally transferred, but for now, it appears, that we might either need to fundraise for the 5% (IF the PA does not pay this AND if PCRF somehow is unable to provide this – which seems unlikely at this point) and accommodation/food costs for the accompanying parent, or only the accommodation costs. We are also not clear what kind of treatment the PA has agreed to pay – Mohammad definitely has a condition that will require several months of treatment.
Mohammad was scheduled to get transferred tonight. However, he has apparently had an emergency surgery last night (will provide details later) where access fluid in his brain was drained, and i have just received the news that for the first time in days, he was able to eat this morning. We are unclear if the transfer will still go ahead tonight (will let you know).
As you can tell, there is some hopeful developments, and some uncertainty. We expect we will still need your help, but will be able to specify in a few days.
(for those who have asked, we have been trying to get hold of the German surgeon who operated on Mohammad, but for some strange reason, the hospital in Ramallah was not willing to share his name or contacts with us. also, several of you have asked for the contacts of the family – which we highly appreciate. however, in light of the confusion on the current situation, i hope you will agree to wait another day or two before I can put you in touch).
thank you for your support,
FYI: I sent this message to The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
http://www.pcrf.net, and I got the following email from Steve Sosebee, the CEO and president:
“Yes, we are aware of this case and have already been in touch with the family. We are paying their ambulance and helping them as much as possible. Randa in our office is on it and I’ve been also communicating with several people about it. We also have a pediatric neurosurgeon arriving from the USA today and he will see the child in Nablus for another opinion. The problem is that the office in Jordan is closed today for arranging the transfer, but we will do our part in making sure the child is sent there. Please inform Fadwa about that.”
This organization is amazing, and I hope Mohammad will be OK.