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Dubai: On September 10, Abbie Kadom posted a message on the Hope Amel Instagram page about a two-year-old boy named Ayaan and his urgent need for a bone marrow transplant. Within three days, Dh390,000 had been pledged. By the time the dust settled, the total had climbed to Dh405,000, in less than a week gathered from more than 100 individual transfers, money that went straight to the hospital treating him.
Ayaan has been fighting for his life since before he was born, battling a string of medical complications that culminated in a leukaemia diagnosis.
His father, Bashir Ahmad, is Pakistani, his mother, Rahmawati Bin Kartah, is Indonesian. Ayaan has an older brother, five-year-old Sultan. Bashir earns less than Dh5,000 a month, has spent the bulk of his savings and sold his family home in Pakistan to pay for his son’s treatment. He works at a rental car company but has taken on extra shifts cleaning cars to help make ends meet.
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Abbie, who is Iraqi-Canadian, founded Hope Amel six years ago while also working full-time as head of people at a Dubai-based aviation company. It is a volunteer-run community supporting mothers and families facing financial hardship across the UAE, providing everything from school supplies, strollers and infant formula to clothing, toys, household essentials and Ramadan food boxes.
Since its launch, Hope Amel has supported more than 40,000 families. Abbie first heard Ayaan’s story through a friend and fellow Hope Amel volunteer who knew Bashir.
“I found out about Ayaan through a friend and fellow Hope Amel volunteer. I got in touch, and I couldn’t ignore it. I shared his story because I knew it would reach the right people, but none of this would have been possible without everybody’s help,” Abbie said.
How it happened
Abbie did not run a fundraiser or collect a single dirham herself. She simply shared Ayaan’s story with her 14,000 Instagram followers and a small, tight-knit group of volunteers, asking that anyone who wanted to help pay the hospital directly.
Gulf News independently verified with Burjeel Medical City that the funds were transferred for the bone marrow transplant.
“For it to happen in just a few days, I couldn’t believe it. It’s all thanks to every single person who saw the posts and donated whatever amount, and to those who couldn’t donate but shared it online instead. Every single effort mattered. It reminded me why we do this work, that even when things feel hopeless, there are always people out there with good hearts, ready to help a child they have never met,” she said.
Abbie described how people across Dubai came together to help Ayaan, with strangers becoming like family overnight.
“In Dubai, many people are away from their 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 that, how people can come together for one cause and change the course of a child’s life,” Abbie said.
The anonymous donor who donated Dh202,530
Donations poured in, ranging from Dh100 to Dh1,000 and more, with each contribution bringing the family closer to their goal. Then, one donation changed everything.
“An anonymous donor saw Ayaan’s story on social media and immediately gave Dh202,530. This person doesn’t want to be named, and they donated without hesitation. It honestly felt like an angel in disguise, I couldn’t believe it. 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 were able to reach what was needed in just a few days, and I truly believe it was a sign that Ayaan was never meant to fight this alone,” Abbie said.
Ayaan is currently at Al Jalila Children’s Hospital in Dubai, undergoing two weeks of intensive chemotherapy after doctors discovered a new mass. He will then be transferred to Burjeel Medical City in Abu Dhabi for the transplant.
From premature birth to a leukaemia diagnosis
Ayaan’s troubles started before he had even arrived.
“When my wife was around 32 weeks pregnant, the doctors sent her for a scan. We were on our way home when the hospital called and urgently asked us to come back. When we arrived, the doctors told us there was a serious problem. The baby was having difficulty breathing and needed to be delivered urgently,” Bashir explained.
Unable to afford the deposits required by private hospitals, and with his wife in excruciating pain, the family went to Latifa Hospital.
“The doctors immediately understood how serious the situation was. The next morning, at around 9am, my wife delivered our little Ayaan by emergency Caesarean section – my wife and my baby were alive. The doctors told us that Ayaan had several serious medical problems,” he said.
Ayaan was born with problems affecting his chest and breathing, his heart, his eyes and his arms. Severely premature, he spent 37 days in the NICU.
“The hospital bills reached around Dh95,000. I had almost no money left. I borrowed money, sold my car and did everything I could to pay the bills and bring my baby home. The doctors also told us Ayaan had blood-related problems and couldn’t feed normally. Since birth, he has depended on a feeding tube,” Bashir said.
Months later, at home, his condition worsened. “I took him to a private clinic, where the doctor told me we needed to see a blood specialist immediately. When the doctors saw his condition, they understood how serious it was, and Ayaan began receiving the treatment he desperately needed.” Ayaan was also diagnosed with Down Syndrome.
Then, on December 25, came the diagnosis – leukaemia.
“My heart broke. The doctors told me not to lose hope, they said they would do everything they could for him. Ayaan started chemotherapy and went through very difficult treatment. After months, we were finally told he could go home, though we still had to return every two weeks for blood tests and treatment.”
More complications followed, swelling and an abnormal mass between his nose and eye, signalling that the cancer had progressed. Doctors recommended a bone marrow transplant, available only at Burjeel Medical City in Abu Dhabi, at a cost of Dh390,000.
“By that point, I had already used almost everything I had. I had built a house in my home country, Pakistan, hoping it would one day 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 because of the situation, I could only get around Dh170,000. I gave everything I could.”
It was at this point that Hope Amel and Abbie stepped in, amplifying Ayaan’s story until, in under a week, the community had raised more than Dh400,000, a turn of events Bashir still describes as nothing short of a miracle, one he remains deeply thankful for.
The money is raised, but the journey towards recovery is far from over
Bashir is currently on unpaid leave and finding it increasingly difficult to hold the family together. “It is becoming hard to maintain a job and also be there for Ayaan at the hospital. 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.”
The funds raised cover the transplant and roughly 100 days of associated care but the family’s costs do not end there. Post-transplant recovery, further tests and procedures, and Ayaan’s ongoing needs – milk, nappies, feeding-tube supplies and medication, remain an open-ended expense.
“I am not asking for luxury, just an easy life for Ayaan and my family, and to see him be a kid,” Bashir said.
For now, though, the family is holding on to gratitude.
“Alhamdulillah, with the help of these people, the required payment has now been covered. I can never properly express what this means to me. Every person who helped Ayaan became part of our family’s journey. Now, we are waiting for the appointment, and for Ayaan’s transplant treatment to begin.”
