Haleema’s parents considering Children’s Life Fund

FIVE-year-old Haleema Mohammed who underwent a bone marrow transplant in India in September, may have to return if her condition does not improve.

Haleema, a First Year student of the Mohess Road Hindu School was diagnosed with Beta Thalassemia Major, a blood disorder, when she was 18 months old.

The child was accepted by Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurgaon, India to undergo surgery at a cost of $400,000.

Her seven-year-old brother Haleem was her donor.

The Debe family’s plight shot into the headlines after the Children’s Life Fund turned down an application for assistance on the grounds that Haleema’s condition is not life threatening.

Undaunted by the rejection, her parents embarked on a fund-raising venture and with the help of sponsors and corporate TT, were able to raise the money to pay for the surgery and three-month stay in India.

Haleema’s ailment required her to undergo blood transfusions twice a month at the San Fernando General Hospital.

The child’s mother Kristal Mohammed said that days before she undergoes blood transfusion, she would develop a high fever, become listless and begin vomiting. She would be unable to go to school.

She pleaded for her little girl to be given a chance to live a normal life.

Haleema’s father Hamil is a construction worker while her mother is a housewife. The couple have three children of which Haleema is the youngest.

Haleema, her parents and her brother travelled to India in September for the surgery and stayed there for three months as doctors monitored her progress.

Speaking yesterday, Kristal said doctors in India told her it would take at least one year for Haleema’s body to begin producing its own blood.

She said every three months, Haleema would have to undergo tests to monitor her progress.

Haleema was hospitalised last week for four days. The mother said various tests were done to monitor blood count and the family became concerned that the child would have to return to India. She said in the event they have to go, they would consider approaching the Children’s Life Fund for assistance.

“We have already started our own fund raising, we did a barbecue and we have another fund raiser at Fun Splash in Debe for this Saturday,” she said.