Abdullah, two, facing his second battle with cancer
HE’S MY BRAVE LITTLE WARRIOR, SAYS MUM OF LITTLE BOY
ABDULLAH Barkat is just two – but he is already fighting cancer for the second time.
The youngster, from Oldham, was born with leukaemia.
He was given the all-clear after five weeks, but the cancer returned just before his second birthday.
He has fought health problems throughout his short life.
That’s why his mum Safia Barkat said he’s her little warrior, and wants to share his story.
When Abdullah was born he had almost zero chance of survival.
Not only was he diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia, he also had a hole in his heart and a rare condition called Hydrops fetalis, meaning he had fluid on his organs.
He also had lung disease and problems with his liver.
The chance of surviving Hydrops fetalis is about 20 per cent.
Safia noticed something was wrong six months into her pregnancy.
She had a scan, where medics discovered Abdullah was curled up in the corner of her womb and had a hole in his heart. His lungs and his kidneys were also full of fluid, they said.
“They said they didn’t know if he was going to make it”, the 39-year-old said.
“It was my third baby, I had a healthy five-year-old, Arwa, and a three-yearold, Ibaad. I thought it must have been me that did something wrong.”
Doctors at the Royal Oldham Hospital didn’t have the specialist skills to care for Abdullah, so Safia was rushed to Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she spent two months. He was born by emergency C-section.
Safia was unable to hold her newborn, as he was immediately flown to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital by air ambulance after he was born.
Instead of being able to celebrate the birth of her son, she instead got a phone call from Alder Hey to ask for permission to drain his organs.
Safia’s husband Adnan sent her photos of Abdullah from the hospital. “They kept him ventilated,” she said. “He was having chemo.”
After a week Safia was able to see him for the first time. Medics also told Safia that Abdullah had Down syndrome.
Slowly Abdullah built his strength up and he was taken off the ventilator at four weeks. Shortly after he was declared cancer-free. He was eventually transferred back to the Royal Oldham in April 2017, where he had open heart surgery to repair the hole in his heart.
Abdullah came home from hospital after six months. But the family were dealt a devastated when they were told the leukaemia had returned.
He is on his third out of five cycles of chemotherapy at Manchester Children’s Hospital, and Safia hopes he will be out of hospital by Ramadan in May.
“He’s such an inspiration,” said mum Safia.
“He’s a little warrior, he’s a miracle. He beat all the odds.” Safia Barkat