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This story was written with support from IJNet Arabic’s Mentoring Center for MediaStartups
Written By Ibrahim Al-Munifi
Translated By Yasser Muhammed
At around 1:00 in the morning, in a large residential building located in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, in which several families from different governorates live, loud screams were heard by the entire building. As time went by, the cries got louder. The neighbors started to question what was happening, because the building is usually quiet by night, and there was no new tenan
As the screams got louder and louder, the tenants decided to go and check the source of the sound. One of the neighbors gently knocked on the apartment’s door and a man came out apologizing without even asking why someone was knocking at the door that late in the night
Upon apologizing the man asked his neighbors to forgive him and to be understanding
? Understand what? What could make a person scream so loud?,” Whispered one of the neighbors“
Inside the apartment, Abd Al-Karim Taher, the sick person’s brother called a relative in Taiz governorate, south west of Yemen, to inform him of the recent developments
“We arrived in Sana’a just this afternoon, and Ahmed was with us. We did not go to our relatives’ house to rest, the condition seemed serious and unbearable,” Abd Al-Karim Taher during the phone call
Abd Al-Karim continued explaining the situation to his relative, mentioning that although he did not have time to research who is a good ENT specialist, in Sana’a and visited the nearest clinic, later they found out that the doctor they visited was a renowned ENT specialist
“Ahmed has a collection of fluids and pus in his ear, decay is spreading in his nerves and may reach the brain,” Continued Abd Al-Karim during the phone call
The specialist had explained to Abd Al-Karim that his brother Ahmad needs an emergency operation to prevent the decay from reaching Ahmad’s brain and killing him
Although Abd Al-Karim was happy to hear his brother’s condition is treatable, he was shocked to learn the cost would be YER 500,000, which he did not have
“We went back to our relatives’ house until we could collect the money or borrow it, but Ahmed was in severe pain and was screaming so much that the neighbors gathered at our door asking about the reason for the screaming
A Helping Hand from a New Neighbor
After two days of agony and suffering for Ahmad, during which his brother Abdul Karim was racing against time to save his brother’s life, the neighbors collected most of the money between them and Abd Al-Karim and his family collected the remaining sum of the money on the third day
Abd Al-Karim rushed to the hospital to ask the doctor to perform the surgery on his brother and save his life, and the doctor did
Unfortunately, Ahmad’s middle ear and cranial nerve were removed
The facial nerve is the 7th cranial nerve which carries nerve fibers that control facial movement and expression. The facial nerve also carries nerves that are involved in taste to the anterior 2/3 of the tongue and produce tears (lacrimal gland)
The doctor asked Ahmed’s family to bring him back 90 days after the first surgery to perform a second surgery to prevent decay from reaching his brain and threatening his life. Three months following the 1st surgery Ahmad’s family took him back to the doctor’s clinic for the second one. Unfortunately completely lost his sense of hearing
Wishing for Death
On May 11, 2015 Ahmed Taher was thirteen years old and studying in the eighth grade, when the historical Al-Qahira Castle in Taiz governorate was rocked with airstrikes on the morning of that day
Due to the deafening sound caused by the airstrike Ahmad’s ear was damaged and started to cause him great pain. Following that, Ahmad and his brother Abd Al-Karim visited a general practitioner who gave him antibiotics and some other medicines. However, Ahmad’s earache returned a few months later and kept increasing with time, until the strongest sedatives no longer had any effect. Ahmed lived his days and weeks feeling severe pain until his eyes and body withered
Due to the severity of his pain, Ahmed attempted to take his own life a few times, luckily his family were able to intervene and stop him every time
A Glimmer of Hope
A philanthropist helped Ahmed travel to India to undergo a surgery to implant a cochlear in one of his ears. Fortunately Ahmad recovered 5% of his hearing making him very happy and hopeful
“Ahmad was ecstatic, his dreams of going back to school and mingling with students after about two years of isolation and mental suffering,” said Abd Al-Karim to the Media Center for Persons with Disability (MCPD). Despite the numerous difficulties, Ahmed was able to complete his studies and graduate from high school, thanks to his persistence and the support of his family
Thanks to Ahmed’s insistence and his family’s awareness of the importance of getting treatment, they stood with him step by step, especially his brother Abdul Karim, who is a physician assistant and is currently studying to specialize in prosthetics
Abdul Karim is upset with the weak presence of specialized humanitarian organizations in Yemen and of the absence of a humanitarian organization that is dedicated to civilian victims of war who became PWSNs due to the war
Abdul Karim said that his brother did not receive any form of support from humanitarian organizations, even psychosocial support or support in the form of training and qualifying, which according to Abd Al-Karim he desperately needs. “Ahmed suffers greatly because his disability is new to him, Ahmed was and still is a people person who loves football,” added Abd Al-Karim