Helping Hands: Family fallen on hard times need to pay for mother’s arthritis treatment

Egyptian family are struggling to pay for anything more than food and the Dar Al Ber Society hopes to raise Dh33,000 to pay for the mother's treatment.

Amal Nail’s husband, Reda Ziki Hussein, lost his job and her bad arthritis has meant that the family are having to survive on very little money, with no hope of paying for her treatment unless they geShow more

ABU DHABI // When Amal Nail’s husband lost his job eight months ago, the family managed to keep afloat with the help of her money-making ideas.

“I printed business cards in Sharjah for a few people,” says Ms Nail, 50, who would earn Dh200 every few weeks from printing posters and business cards for clients.

“It isn’t much but it helped us to pay for groceries.”

The family of three came to the UAE from Egypt six years ago after her husband found a job at a contracting company.

“The company had to downsize but promised to keep him on their visa until he found another job,” Ms Nail says.

When she was found to have rheumatoid arthritis last month, she became not only unable to work but was also unable to pay for her treatment, as her family did not have health insurance.

“My body is all swollen and I can’t move,” Ms Nail says, adding that medication to treat her condition will cost about Dh33,000, according to her physician.

“We can’t even pay for our son’s school fees.”

Her son, Rida Hussein, 13, is in eighth grade and is severely depressed.

“He says he is tired of us always telling him to wait because we have no money and is anxious that he will be expelled from school soon,” says Ms Nail.

“We can barely pay for food. We can’t afford anything else.”

Ms Nail wants to be in good health again. “I need to get better so that I can work to help my husband until he finds work,” she says.

Hisham Al Zahrani, manager of social services at the charitable Dar Al Ber Society, said: “This family has fallen on hard times and we hope we can help them recover by raising Dh33,000 for Amal’s treatment.”

• To help call the hotline at 0502955999, or send a WhatsApp message to the same number. Donations can be made by depositing the amount at Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank account, Iban number AE9805 000 000 000 11530734 or Dubai Islamic Bank account, Iban number AE8002 4000 352 0443 1952 01. Donations go towards Ms Nail’s treatment.