'We were heard': Father thanks Dubai Ruler for Dh7 million that saved child's life
At 9.05am, doctors along with the nurses walked in carrying a small, sealed red box that contains the life-saving gene therapy medicine and could change Yaqeen's future forever. Looking at it, Yaqeen's mother stood frozen as she saw the medicine being brought in.
Her eyes followed every movement. And then, she smiled, the kind of smile that only a mother who's lived through months of fear and sleepless nights could give. Her eyes rose up, but she didn't cry. Instead, she took a deep breath of relief, of hope, and of gratitude.
'Today, my daughter gets a second chance at life,' she said softly, almost as if trying to convince herself that this wasn't just another dream.
A few weeks ago, this moment felt impossibly far. The family, Syrian nationals residing in the UAE, had launched an emotional plea on social media to save their daughter who was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare, serious, and life-threatening genetic disorder and the treatment costs Dh7 million.
But then came a miracle — Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, responded to their plea. His office reached out directly to the family and informed them that he would cover the full cost of the gene therapy, giving Yaqeen the lifeline she urgently needed.
'I still can't believe it,' said Ibrahim Kaneker, Yaqeen's father. 'When I got the call, I broke down. I didn't know what to say. I never imagined our cry for help would reach Sheikh Mohammed himself. May God bless him and give him abundantly, he saved our daughter's life.'
'She just stopped moving her legs'
Yaqeen was six months old when her parents noticed something wasn't right. 'She had just started rolling over,' said her mother. 'But then, she stopped. She wasn't kicking her legs anymore. She was quiet. We thought maybe she was tired. But then the days went by... and nothing changed.'
After multiple visits to the doctors and several rounds of testing, the family was given the heartbreaking diagnosis of spinal muscular atrophy, Type 2. It is a genetic condition that affects motor neurons in the spinal cord and brainstem, gradually weakening the muscles that control movement, breathing, and swallowing.
'We were shattered,' said Ibrahim. 'She was so small… how could she already have something so serious? As a father, you want to protect your child. But how do you protect her from something inside her own body?'
Arrival of treatment
Dr Haitham El Bashir, neuro-rehabilitation specialist and head of the gene therapy programme at Al Jalila Children's Hospital, oversaw Yaqeen's treatment. 'She has been diagnosed with SMA, and her symptoms began at around six months,' he said. 'We saw her a few weeks ago, ran all the necessary tests and screening, and confirmed she is eligible for gene therapy.'
The therapy, which costs millions, is a one-time infusion that works by replacing the faulty gene responsible for SMA.
'Today is a big day for her,' said Dr El Bashir. 'The infusion will take about an hour, and then she will stay with us for 24 hours for observation. After that, she will visit us weekly for the next three months so we can monitor her progress. I am very optimistic. She is already showing signs of strength, and with this therapy, she'll have a real chance.'
Yaqeen's mother did not speak much. She didn't need to and her expressions said it all. 'This moment, I will remember forever. When I saw the medicine being brought in… I can't describe the feeling. It was like the weight of the world was lifted from my chest. My daughter's smile tells me everything will be okay.'
A nation that cares
As the family shared their story, there was one emotion that was repeated again and again: gratitude. Gratitude to the UAE, to the hospital staff, to strangers who shared their posts and prayed for them. And most of all, to Sheikh Mohammed.
'He didn't know us. But he helped us like we were his own,' said Ibrahim. My daughter has a chance because we are here, because we were heard.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
2 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Gaza famine warning as Israel resists ceasefire calls
Gaza is slipping into famine, UN-backed experts warned on Tuesday, as the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the death toll in the nearly 22-month war had surpassed 60,000. The health ministry figure excludes deaths from hunger in the Palestinian territory gripped by dire humanitarian conditions made worse by Israel's total blockade of aid from March to May. This week, Israel launched a daily pause in fighting and opened secure routes to enable UN and non-governmental agencies to distribute food on Gaza's devastated streets. Hundreds of truckloads of aid have begun to arrive. But Israeli strikes continued overnight, killing 30 people in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Gaza's civil defence agency and experts warn a humanitarian catastrophe of historic proportions is imminent. "The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip," said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC), a coalition of monitors tasked by the UN to warn of impending crises. The World Food Programme's emergency director, Ross Smith, likened the situation to some of the worst famines of the past century. "This is unlike anything we have seen in this century. It reminds us of previous disasters in Ethiopia or Biafra," Smith said via video-link from Rome. "We need urgent action now." In a statement released ahead of the IPC report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of distorting casualty figures and accused the group of looting food aid destined for Palestinian civilians. "While the situation in Gaza is difficult and Israel has been working to ensure aid delivery, Hamas benefits from attempting to fuel the perception of a humanitarian crisis," the statement said. "We already allow significant amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza every single day, including food, water and medicine. Unfortunately, Hamas... has been stealing aid from the Gaza population, many times by shooting Palestinians." As late as Sunday, Netanyahu had been insisting there was "no starvation in Gaza" but even his close international ally, US President Donald Trump, has now warned the situation appears to be "real starvation". Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza on March 2 after ceasefire talks broke down. In late May, it began allowing a small trickle of aid to resume, amid warnings of a wave of starvation. Then on Sunday, faced with a mounting international chorus of alarm, Israel began a series of "tactical pauses" while allowed aid trucks to cross two border crossings into Gaza, and Jordanian and Emirati planes to airdrop aid. Shipments have ramped up, but for the IPC this effort will not prove enough unless aid agencies are granted "immediate, unimpeded" humanitarian access. "Failure to act now will result in widespread death in much of the Strip," it said, warning that 16 children under the age of five had died of hunger since July 17. "Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths," it said. According to Netanyahu's office, the pause in military operations covers "key populated areas" between 10:00 am (0700 GMT) and 8:00 pm every day. Designated aid convoy routes will be secure from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm. COGAT, an Israeli defence ministry body in charge of civil affairs in the Palestinian territories, said more than 200 truckloads of aid were distributed by the UN and aid agencies on Monday. Another 260 trucks were permitted to cross into Gaza to deposit aid at collection points, four UN tankers brought in fuel and 20 pallets of aid were airdropped from Jordanian and Emirati planes, COGAT said. Overnight, however, strikes continued. Gaza's civil defence agency said on Tuesday that Israeli air strikes killed at least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, in the central Nuseirat district. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the strikes were carried out overnight and into the morning and "targeted a number of citizens' homes" in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The local Al-Awda hospital said it had received "the bodies of 30 martyrs, including 14 women and 12 children". An Israeli military spokesman told AFP that he would need more information to enable him to look into the strikes. With aid experts pushing for a ceasefire to enable a large-scale humanitarian operation, Israel's foreign minister addressed reporters in Jerusalem to denounce what he called a "distorted campaign" of international pressure. Gideon Saar told reporters that if Israel was to halt the conflict while Hamas is still in power in Gaza and still holding hostages it would be a "tragedy for both Israelis and Palestinians". "It ain't gonna happen, no matter how much pressure is put on Israel," he said.
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Recipients of 2025-26 UAE mental health journalism fellowships announced
Nour Ibrahim, a social media journalist at The National, and Ghenwa Yehia, a regular contributor to Khaleej Times wknd magazine, have been awarded Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism in the UAE. The fellowship programme seeks to improve the quality of mental health reporting in the media and is named after the late Rosalynn Carter, co-founder of the Carter Centre, who was an influential voice in the field of mental health for decades. The National administers the scheme in the UAE for the Carter Centre, a US-based non-profit, non-governmental organisation. Yehia and Ibrahim will begin their year-long, non-residential fellowship later this year. They will receive intensive training from experts and mentors in the US and support from advisers in the UAE to help them accurately report on mental health. During her fellowship year, Ibrahim plans to document how young people in the UAE are turning to artificial intelligence for emotional support, including chatbots, journaling apps and AI companions. She will explore the mental health implications of relying on these tools and what that may reveal about the future of care in the region. Her reporting will be published by The National. Yehia writes a column for Khaleej Times wknd magazine, where she covers mental health issues and how they intersect with everyday life. Her fellowship project work will be a multi-part series exploring the emotional and ethical impact of 'grief tech'. She will investigate how AI-powered simulations of the deceased are reshaping the way we grieve and what that means for mental health. They will succeed Saeed Saeed, a features writer for The National, as UAE mental health journalism fellows. His fellowship reporting project looked at the Arabic music scene and attitudes towards mental health within the industry. His work over the past year has documented a movement towards what he describes as an increased 'emotional transparency' among artists and musicians. Previous UAE fellows have contributed stories across a wide variety of mental health subjects, including documenting the lived realities of expatriate fathers in the region, reporting on conflict and trauma and examining mental health provision in education. More than 200 journalists from around the world have been awarded fellowships since the programme's inception in the 1990s. With this year's appointments, 12 journalists have been awarded fellowships in the UAE since The National became custodian of the country programme in 2018. Applications for the next UAE round of Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism are expected to open early in 2026. Full details of the programme can be found by following the link marked Rosalynn Carter Fellowship at the foot of The National 's homepage.
Zawya
3 hours ago
- Zawya
Exotel's Intelligent Communication Platform enhances patient care and efficiency at Medcare hospitals
Dubai, UAE – Exotel, a leading customer engagement platform, has partnered with Medcare—one of the UAE's premier healthcare providers—to successfully implement its automated communication solution. In their continuous quest to drive excellence, managing patient appointments and optimizing staff utilization emerged as key operational priorities. The collaboration has resulted in significant improvements in appointment management, a reduction in patient no-shows, enhanced staff efficiency, and an overall boost to the patient experience. By integrating Exotel's intelligent calling and reminder system, Medcare has seen measurable improvements. Monthly no-show rates dropped from 21% to single digit numbers, freeing up valuable appointment slots and driving operational efficiency. More importantly, frontline healthcare staff—especially nurses—have reclaimed significant time for core medical responsibilities, leading to improved documentation compliance and higher patient and doctor satisfaction. 'This solution has been a game-changer. Nurses no longer spend hours calling patients, which means more time for clinical care. We've seen documentation compliance go from 60% to 90%, and patient NPS scores have improved as our team can now focus fully on patient needs,' said Kowshik Bhattacharjee, Head of Service Excellence and Patient Experience at Medcare Hospitals and Medical Centres. 'The automation also helped us bring down our no-show rate from 20% to just 5%-7%, directly impacting our efficiency and revenues.' Exotel's solution automates appointment reminders using intelligent call routing and multi-touch follow-ups, ensuring patients confirm, cancel, or reschedule their appointments in advance. This not only minimizes scheduling gaps but also enables better resource planning for hospital administrators. 'We're proud to partner with Medcare to support their vision of providing exceptional patient care,' said Sachin Bhatia, Co-founder and COO, Exotel. 'At Exotel, we believe in creating communication systems that don't just improve operational efficiency—they enable more human, compassionate interactions by freeing up time for what really matters.' 'The streamlined appointment system at Medcare with automated reminders via Voice Automation platform has led to better patient turnout and reduced manual work. A real-time analytics dashboard helps track appointments and patient behavior, enabling smarter decisions', added Bhatia. By transforming a previously manual and time-consuming process into an automated, scalable system, Exotel has empowered Medcare to serve patients more effectively while optimizing internal resources. This partnership reflects Exotel's growing presence in the healthcare sector and its vision to power smarter, more empathetic engagement using automation. Exotel provides AI-driven customer engagement and experience solutions, serving over 7,000 clients globally across various industries. The company facilitates more than 25 billion annual conversations through omnichannel platforms, voice, agents, and bots. Its AI-powered solutions support agents, bots, and customers by enhancing interactions with conversational intelligence and optimizing resources to improve customer experience and business operations. About Exotel In today's dynamic business landscape, customer expectations are constantly evolving. Businesses face the challenge of balancing the need for increased revenue, optimised costs, and exceptional customer experience (CX). Exotel steps forward as your transformative partner, offering a comprehensive AI-powered communication solution designed to address all three! We leverage the cutting edge of AI to create co-pilots. These intelligent assistants seamlessly integrate across all communication channels (omnichannel), enabling hyper-personalized interactions with every customer. Imagine empowered agents receiving real-time guidance, leading to faster conversions and improved lead nurturing. Exotel's impact extends far beyond the agent experience. AI co-pilots automate repetitive tasks, freeing up valuable resources and reducing operating costs. Additionally, AI-powered self-serve options empower customers to find answers independently, boosting overall CX. Exotel goes beyond just technology. We partner with you to craft customised solutions that unlock the true potential of AI-driven communication. Let Exotel be your guide through the ever-changing business landscape and a partner for all things from customer engagement to customer experience. We'll help you achieve your unique goals while empowering every conversation like a friend. For more info, visit: About Medcare Medcare is a premium healthcare provider under Aster DM Healthcare, one of the largest integrated healthcare providers in Southeast Asia and the UAE. Medcare Operates five hospitals (four in Dubai, one in Sharjah) and 23 medical centers, Medcare emphasizes exceptional patient experiences through service excellence initiatives. Their vision, "We Treat You Well," has transformed healthcare delivery by following hospitality-inspired service standards. Medcare's network combines world-class medical expertise with superior patient care, establishing new benchmarks for premium healthcare services in the region.
