Hamdan comes to the help of Emirati seeking crowdfunding for treatment
dubai — An Emirati man, who desperately took to social media to raise the Dh3 million needed for urgent cancer treatment after his current medication stopped working, was overwhelmed on Friday when Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, stepped forward and pledged to pay for his treatment.
“It’s impossible to get approval for this treatment and I can’t save up for it. Who can donate?,” Khalifa Dafoos Almehairi wrote on his Instagram account. And after launching a GoFundMe page on Thursday morning (a for-profit crowdfunding platform), Almehairi, who is currently based in the US, raised a staggering $681,010 in just 24 hours.
Under his bio, Almehairi wrote: “I’ve been fighting cancer for the past five years and it’s going nowhere anymore.
The fund I need is for a trial treatment. I need to survive for my wife, my four-year-old son and the society.”
By Friday evening, a total of 2,403 people had donated to his cause, exceeding his original goal of $500,000. The page also received more than 2,300 shares via Twitter and Facebook.
After his journey to raise money for treatment went viral, Sheikh Hamdan reached out to Almehairi and vowed to fund the rest of his treatment.
“You are brave and we are with you,” the Crown Prince commented under his Instagram video.
Seeking to trial new cancer treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas, in total it will cost about Dh3 million (approximately $820,000).
Despite a lengthy 5-year battle with cancer, including years of failed radiation and chemotherapy treatment, Almehairi has been documenting his experience via Twitter and Instagram using the handle @kdafoos. In one of his latest videos, a smiling Almehairi tells his followers that positivity is key to fighting for his life, quoting that the “secret of healing is in a smile”.