Dubai community raises Dh405,000 in days for toddler's life-saving bone marrow transplant

'Strangers became like family': Dubai community raises Dh405,000 in less than a week for 2-year-old battling leukaemia

When Abbie Kadom shared a two-year-old boy's medical crisis on Instagram on September 10, she hoped for help. What followed exceeded all expectations: within 72 hours, the Dubai community had pledged Dh390,000. By week's end, the total reached Dh405,000 from more than 100 individual donors, all transferred directly to the hospital treating young Ayaan.

The toddler has been fighting for survival since before birth, enduring multiple medical complications that led to a leukaemia diagnosis. His father Bashir Ahmad, a Pakistani national earning less than Dh5,000 monthly at a rental car company, had already depleted his savings and sold the family home in Pakistan to cover mounting medical bills. His Indonesian wife Rahmawati Bin Kartah cares for their older son Sultan, aged five.

Kadom founded Hope Amel six years ago while working full-time as head of people at a Dubai aviation company. The volunteer-run initiative has supported over 40,000 families across the UAE with essentials ranging from school supplies to food boxes. She learned about Ayaan through a fellow volunteer who knew his father.

Rather than collecting funds herself, Kadom shared Ayaan's story with her 14,000 Instagram followers and asked supporters to pay the hospital directly. Gulf News independently confirmed with Burjeel Medical City that the funds were received for the bone marrow transplant.

The anonymous benefactor

Donations arrived in amounts from Dh100 to Dh1,000 and beyond, each bringing the family closer to their goal. Then came a transfer that changed everything: Dh202,530 from someone who wished to remain unnamed.

This person saw Ayaan's story on social media and gave without hesitation. It felt like an angel in disguise. To give that much, that quickly, for a child you have never met is something I will never forget. Because of that one person, we reached what was needed in just days.

Ayaan is currently at Al Jalila Children's Hospital in Dubai, the UAE's only standalone dedicated children's hospital that opened in 2016, undergoing two weeks of intensive chemotherapy after doctors discovered a new mass. He will then transfer to Burjeel Medical City in Abu Dhabi for the transplant. The Abu Dhabi facility performed the UAE's first pediatric bone marrow transplant from a donor to a child in 2022 and has since completed 157 such procedures. The hospital holds certification from the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.

A difficult beginning

Ayaan's medical challenges began at 32 weeks of pregnancy when urgent scans revealed the baby was struggling to breathe. Unable to afford private hospital deposits while his wife experienced severe pain, Bashir brought her to Latifa Hospital, where doctors immediately performed an emergency Caesarean section.

The doctors told us Ayaan had several serious medical problems.

The premature infant was born with chest and breathing difficulties, heart problems, eye conditions and arm abnormalities. He spent 37 days in the NICU, accumulating bills of approximately Dh95,000.

I borrowed money, sold my car and did everything I could to pay the bills and bring my baby home.

Doctors also informed the family that Ayaan had blood-related problems requiring a feeding tube, which he still depends on today. He was diagnosed with Down syndrome, a condition that significantly elevates leukaemia risk in children.

Months later, a private clinic doctor urged them to see a blood specialist immediately. On December 25, came the diagnosis that shattered the family: leukaemia, the most common childhood cancer globally, accounting for approximately one-third of all cancer diagnoses in children under 15.

My heart broke. The doctors told me not to lose hope, that they would do everything they could.

Ayaan began chemotherapy and underwent difficult treatment before doctors initially cleared him to go home with regular monitoring every two weeks.

Complications returned when swelling and an abnormal mass appeared between his nose and eye, indicating cancer progression. Doctors recommended a bone marrow transplant available only at Burjeel Medical City, costing Dh390,000.

By that point, I had already used almost everything I had. I built a house in Pakistan hoping it would give my family security. Instead, I had to sell it to keep fighting for my son. I expected around Dh250,000 from the property but could only get around Dh170,000. I gave everything I could.

The road ahead

The funds raised cover the transplant and roughly 100 days of associated care. Bone marrow transplant patients typically spend approximately 20 days hospitalized followed by 90 days of intensive post-transplant monitoring. However, the family's expenses extend beyond this initial period, including ongoing tests, procedures and Ayaan's daily needs such as milk, nappies, feeding-tube supplies and medication.

Bashir is currently on unpaid leave, finding it increasingly difficult to balance employment with hospital visits.

Now I have to be in Abu Dhabi to take care of Ayaan while my wife is in Dubai looking after our other son, who still needs to start school.

I am not asking for luxury, just an easy life for Ayaan and my family, and to see him be a kid.

For Kadom, the response demonstrated Dubai's capacity for compassion.

In Dubai, many people are away from home and their families. Some don't have anyone to count on for support. That's why, as a city, we need to act like a family for one another. Ayaan's case proved how people can come together for one cause and change the course of a child's life.

The family now awaits the appointment for Ayaan's transplant to begin.

Alhamdulillah, with the help of these people, the required payment has been covered. I can never properly express what this means to me. Every person who helped Ayaan became part of our family's journey.