ABU DHABI // Ahmed Al Sayed is on his last course of treatment for thyroid cancer. After more than a year of chemotherapy, the Egyptian has a few weeks left of radiotherapy to be cancer free.
“I found out I had thyroid cancer last year,” the 25-year-old says. “I’ve come a long way and I am almost recovered.
“My body was swollen and I was tired but now I am much better.”
But Mr Al Sayed does not have health insurance and cannot afford to pay for the remainder of his treatment – Dh70,000.
“I am very grateful and thankful to God that I have come so far already,” he said.
When he was diagnosed, Mr Al Sayed said that the lump near his collar bone was much larger.
He was first told that he had an inflammation and that the lump was not cancerous.
“I was sent to several hospitals in Dubai and Sharjah. At first, they told me it was nothing, but the lump was getting larger and it was painful,” he says.
After several months, doctors confirmed that it was cancer but by then it had developed to an advanced stage.
Mr Al Sayed is an only child and kept the news from many members of his family.
“I only told my father a few months ago and he got very ill afterwards. I regret telling them and I don’t want them to worry about me,” he says.
Mr Al Sayed began working as a salesman in Sharjah in 2014 to support his elderly parents. He earns less than Dh2,000 a month.
“Since I’ve fallen ill, my relationship with God is stronger and he has opened many doors for me and my parents. My parents are also going on a pilgrimage for the first time and we are all thankful to God, he says.
Mr Al Sayed did not take his last radiotherapy session because he could not afford it. He has fewer than three weeks of radiotherapy remaining. If he does not resume his treatment, the cancer will return, doctors warn.
Hisham Al Zahrani, manager of social services at Dar Al Ber Society, said Mr Al Sayed has fought the disease bravely, only to run out of money when recovery is within his reach.
“It would be very unfortunate if Mr Sayed cannot continue his treatment,” he says.
“We and other charities have covered the cost of his chemotherapy and some of the radiotherapy. But we need donations to raise Dh70,000 to pay for the remaining sessions of radiotherapy.”
salnuwais@thenational.com
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate
Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hoopla%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jacqueline%20Perrottet%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20required%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The Bio
Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
The biog
Family: wife, four children, 11 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren
Reads: Newspapers, historical, religious books and biographies
Education: High school in Thatta, a city now in Pakistan
Regrets: Not completing college in Karachi when universities were shut down following protests by freedom fighters for the British to quit India
Happiness: Work on creative ideas, you will also need ideals to make people happy
MATCH INFO
Serie A
Juventus v Fiorentina, Saturday, 8pm (UAE)
Match is on BeIN Sports
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