Abu Dhabi wife's heart-rending plea

An Indian houseboy, who was just settling into his family life, now faces a bleak future on health grounds.

Noushad Mohammed – a father of two girls - spends about Dh450 a month on medicines out of his salary of Dh800 to keep his kidney functioning. The 41-year-old’s only solace is that his wife, whom he married after a long courtship, is beside him during this ordeal.

Noushad Mohammed

“I came to the UAE about 25 years ago when I was just 15 years old. I am going back to India next week because doctors advised me to go for immediate kidney transplant.

My one kidney is not functioning and the second one is nearly non-functional. I am yet to start dialysis and can survive only if there is a kidney donor. My wife is keen to give her kidney, but our kidneys don’t match,” he told Emirates 24|7. His siblings suffer from diabetes or blood pressure, making it a difficult and expensive to get a kidney. His family is in touch with Indian charity groups.

The incident came to light when he fainted at his workplace in Abu Dhabi about nine months ago. He was working as househelp and private driver for an Arab family. However, he alleges that the doctors at the hospital said there was nothing to worry about.

It was only recently, when he accompanied his wife Sheeja Begum for her treatment, that he went in for a check-up himself. To his shock he learned that one of his kidneys has stopped functioning long back and the other was almost non-functional. He was advised a transplant.

Sheeja is willing to donate one of her organs but it does not match his. “Even though our hearts match, the kidneys don’t match,” says Noushad.

Recalling his love story, he says, “When I went on my first vacation, I met this beautiful girl who used to attend a college near my house. I realized that she hailed from a very poor non-Muslim family. After casually meeting her, we continued our romance and exchanged home addresses.

"Those days mobile phones or emails were not popular. Her father abandoned her when her mother was four months pregnant (carrying her), and she did not have money to pay for her higher studies. I used to send Indian Rs6,000 per month for her higher studies [equivalent to a major chunk of his salary then as a waste picker].

"She continued her studies and when her uncle attempted to get her married to a man from Qatar, I went to her house and sought her hand in marriage. But since she was not a Muslim woman, my conservative family objected to our union.

So I took her to the Jamat and had her convert into a Muslim. And, thus she became Sheeja Begum from Raji and we got married. Today, we have two beautiful daughters, ten-year-old Fathima and six-year-old Noufa.”

Noushad's fate struck has struck his family life hard. “My kidney disease has spoiled everything. Now Sheeja has come to Abu Dhabi to work and take care of me. My sponsor helped us to get her a visa in Abu Dhabi. After I was diagnosed with kidney failure, she was given a visa and job in the same Arab family where I worked as a private driver.”

A donor has come forward but he is demanding Rs1,000,000 (Dh62,000), claims Noushad. “My bank balance in India is just Rs3,000. I have built a small house in Kerala after taking a loan of Rs800,000 and am yet to repay that. It’s been four months since I have paid the bank because all our earning goes into buying medicines.

A calcium tablet alone costs me Dh40 per packet. When I go to India, my wife will also accompany me and our income will stop. I have to pay Rs15,000 to the bank every month.”

Noushand claims to have been a healthy person doing hard labour as a waste picker. “I covered 12km every day. Some of my colleagues would faint, but I always endured the task. I have also worked as a grocery store salesman, before becoming a private driver.

The only health issue he earlier suffered was that of a hernia operation.

The Kerala Social Centre, Abu Dhabi, and other Indian media have donated for his cause. However, only Rs25,000 have been collected so far and that is way too short for his treatment. He appeals to readers and society to help him raise the money required for the transplant so that he gets a chance to live a family life. 

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