(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) When a hotel's housekeeping attendant Dipak Shrestha's son was diagnosed with leukaemia with only 20 per cent survival chance, he was left shattered emotionally and was stressed about of the cost of the treatment.
Nepalese national Dipak's son Dipesh Shrestha was only five when he began having a high fever, which refused to come down despite regular medication. Dipesh was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2014 and as the disease got worse, the now 10-year-old boy had to be pulled out of school.
Dipak, who has been employed at Ramada Beach Hotel Ajman since September 2015, has been running pillar to post and has put all his savings trying to save the life of his son.
"Dipesh had his first chemotherapy when he was five. He was doing well for four years, until the cancer resurfaced last year," Dipak told Khaleej Times.
Dipesh is now recovering after completing the second course of chemotherapy. But his testicle was removed due to an infection. He will again be admitted in the hospital after 15 days for the third course and removing another testicle.
This is when Dipak's colleagues, whom he calls his second family in the UAE, stepped up efforts and contributed whatever they could to help him foot the hospital bills. Dipak, the sole breadwinner for his family of five, earns a meager Dh1,100 a month.
His colleagues sought for the support from the staff of the hotel as well as from the sister properties, Ramada Hotel and Suites Ajman and Wyndham Garden Ajman Corniche, who also extended monetary help for Dipak.
Nandaram Bohara, housekeeping attendant at the same hotel, said: "I did not think twice about helping my colleague and friend, as I have been in a difficult situation before and I know how hard it can be. It feels good to be able to help in my own little way. This is not just about the money, but also on hope and optimism for Dipak and his family back in Nepal."
Mohamed Ribayathulla, assistant HR manager at the hotel, who initiated and spearheaded the donation campaign, said: "Dipak is a very hardworking member of our team and we are happy to extend our full support to him. We are a family here and we try to help each other all the time."
The support from his colleagues has kept Dipak positive about his son's survival. "I'm hopeful that Dipesh will overcome this. I needed 500,000 Nepalese rupees (approximately Dh17,000) for the treatment and the surgery. The hotel was able to raise Dh18,700 and I cannot thank them enough."
Giving out his piece of advice to parents going through such adversities, a resilient Dipesh said: "It is important to ensure that you do not let your child feel he is going through a life-threatening disease, my son continues to lead a normal life."
MENAFN2306201800490000ID1097060604
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.