Abdullah Salim

Abdullah Salim is a young Algerian boy that was born with a heart condition, a condition that needed urgent medical attention.

The treatment was unavailable in any Algerian hospital but the government agreed to pay for the procedure to be carried out overseas. So, when Abdullah was seven months old  he travelled to Jordan to have  his vital operation.  Tragically, something went terribly wrong. Due to medical error he did not receive sufficient oxygen  during his hospital stay which among other things, resulted in him being left severely brain damaged.

Abdullah who is now a toddler suffers with a catalogue of ailments, not only is he brain damaged but he is also  deaf, blind and has continued breathing difficulties.

Obviously the boy’s day to day living is difficult but aside from that he needs to make the journey from Algiers to London six times a year for essential treatment to aid his breathing. The journey alone is traumatic and on one occasion he stopped breathing and had to be removed from the plane before take off.

Abdullah’s treatment in London costs £800 a time. This is not funded by the government and has so far been met by contributions from friends and family, but it is becoming more and more difficult to achieve.  At the moment a long term answer has not been found, the boy is scheduled to have a full assessment in  March 2013 by specialists in a French hospital and it is hoped that this will reveal an appropriate solution.

In the meantime Abdullah is scheduled to have treatment in London in September. But, he will then need the treatment again at the end of the year, the family do not know how they will pay for  it that time and it is this that I hope we can help with.

I can’t imagine the daily stress and difficulties that Abdullah and his parent’s go through and I think if we can help relieve some of that burden until at least an alternative can be found in March well, that can only be a good thing.

I also think it would be nice to give Abdullah a gift when he visits London in September, a toy of some sort that is suitable for a deaf blind infant with mobility issues- Any ideas?

At the time of the initial operation Abdullah’s story was published here, it’s in Arabic but ‘google translate’ provides a reasonable translation!

As always, all help is appreciated and even the smallest contribution will help this boy in need.

If you would like to make a donation towards this appeal you may do so on-line via the paypal link on our website alternatively you may send a cheque to the usual address or make a payment directly into our charity bank account. 

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