Wafi Eissa Al-Hazia’a, a Saudi child who has become dependent on a ventilator, was not expected to live until his present age of seven. The ventilator is connected to his body through a tube that penetrates his throat. Wafi now lays in a hospital in Jubail industrial city after many hospitals have failed in diagnosing his case so that an appropriate treatment can be found.

Eissa Al-Hazia’a, the patient’s father who works in Jubail, said: “When Wafi was six-months-old, I noticed he was late in being able to sit down like other babies the same age. His mother and I took him to the doctor for a checkup, and the doctors suggested that we do MRI under full anesthesia.”

He explained: “During the MRI, Wafi began to gradually stop breathing and doctors tried to save him and decided to make a hole in his throat to help him breathe temporarily. The tube that they inserted into his throat was supposed to have been removed shortly afterward. At the same time, the doctors decided to do gastric banding surgery and gastronomy. Three surgeries were conducted at the same time. Since that day, Wafi can’t live without the ventilator, and doctors have now given up on finding a cure for him.”

Wafi’s father contacted Arab News seeking people’s help through the media. He said: “My son’s condition is getting worse by the day. I am looking for any way to help him. Some doctors suggested that I might be able to find a cure for my son outside the Kingdom, since the Kingdom’s hospitals have refused to take his case.”

He said that, on that basis, he had contacted several hospitals abroad and his file was accepted by one of the specialized hospitals in Germany after they examined all of his medical documents. However, when we asked for a medical evacuation from the Saudi Ministry of Health, we were refused this right, which made the problem worse.

Wafi’s mother said: “The doctors told us that Wafi would not live for more than three months after his birth”, but she added that God’s mercy has given him a new life, noting that for seven years now Wafi has survived on a ventilator, even though he remains in pain.

She said: “My son is a captive of a hospital bed. I appeal to all the officials of the Ministry of Health and people with compassionate hearts to help us transfer Wafi to one of the specialized centers abroad. His stay in this current hospital deprives him of movement and makes him sluggish. Wafi does not have any mental disabilities — on the contrary he is very smart, and fluent in several languages. If he stays in this condition, it will ruin his future forever.”

Wafi is waiting for the moment that he gets out of the hospital to play with his friends and go to school. Arab News has received a copy of the child report issued by the hospital, which can be provided upon request to anyone who wishes to help Wafi.