Please Help My Son

For our beloved son Muhammad Farhaan, this is his story: in August 2010 my son, Muhammad Farhaan (MF) was born. He had many complications at birth and was hospitalized in Neonatal ICU for over a month. After running some extensive tests and scans, his paediatrician Dr Botha, told us that MF had been diagnosed with Craniocynostosis where the skull is already fused and therefore gives no space for the brain to grow and unfortunately he will require immediate surgery to ‘open up’ his skull, so as to give the brain space to grow. He was also diagnosed with Crouzons syndrome where his midface is recessed further back compared to other children and eventually, as he grows, breathing will become a major problem for him for which he will require surgery, probably by the age of 12-13. We have come a long way on this journey as a family and never a moment goes by where we don’t ask ALLAH for help and patience. There is still a long way to go and now we ask if our brothers and sisters worldwide might be able to help us in ALLAHs way. We are now eligible for zakat and would greatly appreciate if you may consider us in your zakat distributions this Ramadan.

Here is the story of our last 10 years.

Muhammad Farhaan’s first surgery was in April 2011 to open his skull. It took approximately 10 hours and was performed primarily by Neurosurgeon Prof Le Roux and Plastic surgeon Dr Morris, with assistance by multiple other surgeons, at St.Augustines hospital. The surgery cost around R280k and unfortunately my medical aid at the time paid only around R160k leaving me with a debt of close to R120k, I was only earning a nominal salary and was supporting my wife, children and parents. Unfortunately, the only way to attain the remaining funds was to max all my credit cards, take out bank loans and direct axis loans to pay the huge amount, merely staying afloat. MF also needed extensive occupational therapy, speech therapy, extra classes with Teachers for Special Kids costing me an arm and a leg, and all because of my child having a disability!

We were taking MF every year since 2015 to Albert Luthuli Hospital to the plastic and craniofacial clinic. Here we consulted with Prof Madaree who advised that MF will require surgery to bring his entire face forward allowing him to breathe better. However, this surgery could only be done once he turns 12years old, which would have been around 2022-23! In the interim, for 2years we took MF to Dr Brian Williams, an ENT at Westville Hospital in Durban, who did a CT scan only to find that MF’s breathing passage was narrowing. In 2017, he removed MF’s tonsils and adenoids and said that he hoped to give MF some breathing space, which is only a temporary solution. He repeated this surgery again in 2018, where he removed the adenoids again and put in temporary grommets. These minor surgeries helped, but they were only a quick-fix for a greater problem.

My wife and I realised that MF’s breathing was worsening and last year July (2019) we took MF to the hospital in Durban for his annual check-up. We explained to Prof Madaree that our son was having these breathing problems, especially in his sleep and immediately with much urgency the Prof ordered a sleep apnoea test to be done for MF at the hospital. The results left Prof Madaree shocked! He said that our son was having 60 plus breathing attacks in a 2hour test and that he was only getting around 45% oxygen. This was extremely detrimental to his brain and heart, putting his life in severe danger and also putting him years behind other kids in reaching his milestones and development! He told us that we need to immediately do the major surgery on MF, the surgery that was only supposed to be done once he turned 12, but it had to be done now asap at his age of 9! The surgery was called Le Fort 3 Distraction, which lasted approximately 12hours with 9 of the best surgeons working simultaneously on my son in the Operating Theatre! The surgery is where a metal frame is screwed in the sides of the head, placed permanently on my sons face for 3months. For 3 months, he would not be able to eat anything solid limiting him only to drink liquid form for 3 months. Everyday, twice-a-day for 3 months, we were required to adjust 4 screws on the frame using a tool supplied by the hospital. This adjustment moved MFs face 0.5mm forward at a time. There was unsurmountable heartache that accompanied these 3months for us as his parents.

From July - December 2019, we made multiple trips of approximately 500kms to Durban from our hometown because every time we returned home from Durban, MF would get an infection and the very next day, we had to rush back to the hospital in Durban to see his doctors and seek treatment once again! The constant travelling, accommodation, food expenses etc. was not something we had budgeted for, pushing our finances further into dire position.

After the most difficult and stressful 3months of our lives, MF had to go back to theatre to remove the frame. Prof was happy that the surgery was extremely successful and that hopefully our son will be able to breathe much better now.

Sadly, this is not the end of our journey. The result of this surgery is that when MF’s mouth was moved forward, his teeth became misaligned and no longer meet. His upper pallet became a v-shape and his lower pallet became a u-shape making it extremely difficult for him to eat and talk, yet again. The orthodontist we consulted has advised us that MF’s treatment can take up 5-6 years and will cost almost 500k Rands

Our current situation sees us with a debt of 1 Million Rands, We need your help. We are desperate to help our son see the end of this traumatic experience. In all his life he has not known the ease many of us have and we a praying that the love in the world will come together to help us raise funds to pay for what we hope is that last stage in this journey.

My Banking Details are:

Capitec: Savings Account Details for

Tanweer Mansoor:

Account Number 1571257983; Branch Code 470010.

JazakALLAH and Shukran for All Your Help🙏🏼

⭐️Zakaat eligibility verified by various Ulema

Contact no. +27 (83) 778-6373 ✅