Father loses one son, waits by ICU as another son fights for life

Even on Thursday night, 10-year-old Nur Mohammad Arafat had responded when his father called out to him. Lying in the hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU), he had said he was feeling well.

But on Friday, there was no response from him. Arafat died after contracting measles, dengue and pneumonia.

Yesterday evening, after laying his son in grave, Mohammad Kabir rushed back to the hospital. He has hardly had time to grieve for Arafat. His other son, just 10 months old, is on life support at the hospital. He too has been diagnosed with the same three illnesses.

Having buried one son, Kabir is now waiting to see whether he can save the other. He spends his time beside the bed of his younger son, Mohammad Abu Bakkar, also known as Arab, at Chattogram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital.

Physicians have told him that the child’s chances of survival are very slim. Yet the father cannot bring himself to give up hope.

Mohammad Kabir spoke to Prothom Alo on Saturday afternoon. He repeatedly faltered as he spoke. At times, he could not recall when his elder son had died; at others, he became confused about how many days they have spent in hospital.

At one point, he said, “I honestly can’t remember. I’m not in my right mind. My life is finished.”

For the 31-year-old father, life has now become an unrelenting series of calamities. His wife, Amena Begum, has been left mentally shattered by the death of their elder son. At home, she keeps looking for the child.

Meanwhile, Kabir is rushing between hospital departments with their younger son. His elderly mother is by his side. On top of all this, they are facing huge medical expenses and the burden of debt.

Arafat was a Class Three student at Hillview Public School in Chattogram city. He was a brilliant student. He was the elder of two brothers. His younger brother, Abu Bakkar, was just 10 months old. Kabir and his wife, Amena Begum, had built their life around their two sons.

Kabir said Arafat had developed a fever, vomiting and a cough around 15–20 days earlier. As his condition worsened, he was first taken to Southern Hospital in Chattogram, where he received treatment for two days. He was then transferred to the private Imperial Hospital. When his condition deteriorated, he had to be admitted to its intensive care unit (ICU).

Arafat’s condition did not improve despite several days of treatment at Imperial Hospital. Instead, his breathing difficulties grew worse.

Unable to bear the huge cost of treatment, Kabir eventually took his son to Chattogram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital. He was admitted to the ICU there. According to his father, Arafat, who had measles, dengue and pneumonia, had developed complications in his liver as well as his lungs.

Kabir last spoke to his son on Thursday night. Arafat was still in the ICU. He responded when his father called out to him, saying only that he was doing well. However, visitors were not allowed to stay in the ICU for long. So Kabir could not speak to his son for very long.

On Friday morning, Kabir went to buy medicine for his son. By the time he returned, it was all over. The physicians asked him to come to the hospital immediately.

Kabir said, “The physician told me, ‘Brother, please come quickly. Come and see him one last time. His condition is not good.’ Then it was over, all over. My precious boy never came back.”

The boy who had responded to his father’s call on Thursday night had to be laid to rest by Kabir on Friday evening. Arafat was buried at a graveyard beside the Momenbagh residential area in the city. Yet Kabir could not even return home to comfort his wife. Their other child was still fighting for his life in hospital.

Before he could come to terms with the grief of losing his elder son, Kabir found himself facing grave uncertainty over the fate of his younger child. He said 10-month-old Abu Bakkar had also contracted measles, dengue and pneumonia.

The child is currently on life support in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Chattogram Maa-O-Shishu Hospital. He was admitted there four days ago.

Kabir said his younger son weighed seven and a half kilograms when he was admitted to hospital. The child has been receiving treatment for several days, but his condition has not improved.

When asked what the physicians had told him, Kabir said, “The physicians are saying that his chances of survival are very slim. They have put him on life support.”

Even after hearing this from the physicians, Kabir cannot bring himself to leave his son’s bedside. All his hopes are now pinned on his younger child. Meanwhile, he is also deeply worried about his wife, Amena Begum. She has been mentally shattered by the death of their elder son.

Kabir said he had not brought his wife to the hospital today. She is at home but is not behaving normally. She keeps looking for their elder son and cannot even properly recognise the younger child. She has been repeatedly losing consciousness.

Mohammad Kabir’s home is in Mymensingh. His family lives in a rented house on Road 1 in the Hillview area of Chattogram city. He works for a private company.

Kabir said his total monthly income was Tk 20,000. Of this, Tk 6,000 went towards house rent. He used the remaining money to support his wife and two sons.

With both children falling ill at the same time, the family’s finances have been thrown into disarray. The cost of treating his elder son, Arafat, alone exceeded Tk 250,000 at the hospitals.

Kabir said, “I had some savings. Then my colleagues gave me some money. People in the neighbourhood also helped me out. That is how I managed to pay for it. I have also taken on some debt.”

He also had to borrow money from relatives. However, Kabir still has not calculated how much he owes in total. He is worried about how much more money he will need in the days ahead.