Short stories (true)

Too Shy to Look at His Wife

This story was recounted by Prof. Khalid Al-Jubeir, consulting cardiovascular surgeon, in one of his lectures:

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Once I operated on a two and a half year old child. It was Tuesday, and on Wednesday the child was in good health. On Thursday at 11:15 am - and I'll never forget the time because of the shock I experienced - one of the nurses informed me that the heart and breathing of the child had stopped. I hurried to the child and performed cardiac massage for 45 minutes and during that entire time the heart would not work.

Then, ALLAH decreed for the heart to resume function and we thanked HIM. I went to inform the child's family about his condition. As you know, it is very difficult to inform the patient's family about his condition when it's bad. This is one of the most difficult situations a doctor is subjected to but it is necessary. So I looked for the child's father whom I couldn't find. Then I found his mother. I told her that the child's cardiac arrest was due to bleeding in his throat; we don't know the cause of this bleeding and fear that his brain is dead.

So how do you think she responded? Did she cry? Did she blame me? No, nothing of the sort. Instead, she said "Alhamdulillah" (All Praise is due to ALLAH) and left me.

After 10 days, the child started moving. We thanked ALLAH and were happy that his brain condition was reasonable. After 12 days, the heart stopped again because of the same bleeding. We performed another cardiac massage for 45 minutes but this time his heart didn't respond. I told his mother that there was no hope. So she said: "Alhamdulillah. O ALLAH, if there is good in his recovery, then cure him, O my Lord."

With the grace of ALLAH, his heart started functioning again. He suffered six similar cardiac arrests till a trachea specialist was able to stop the bleeding and the heart started working properly. Now, three and a half months had passed and the child was recovering but did not move. Then just as he started moving, he was afflicted with a very large and strange pus-filled abscess in his head, the likes of which I had never seen. I informed his mother of the serious development. She said "Alhamdulillah" and left me.

We immediately turned him over to the surgical unit that deals with the brain and nervous system and they took over his treatment. Three weeks later, the boy recovered from this abscess but was still not moving. Two weeks pass and he suffers from a strange blood poisoning and his temperature reaches 41.2°C (106°F). I again informed his mother of the serious development and she said with patience and certainty: "Alhamdulillah. O ALLAH, if there is good in his recovery, then cure him."

After seeing his mother who was with her child at Bed#5, I went to see another child at Bed#6. I found that child's mother crying and screaming, "Doctor! Doctor! Do something! The boy's temperature reached 37.6°C (99.68°F)! He's going to die! He's going to die!" I said with surprise, "Look at the mother of that child in Bed#5. Her child's fever is over 41°C (106°F), yet she is patient and praises ALLAH." So she replied: "That woman isn't conscious and has no senses".

At that point, I remembered the great Hadith of the Prophet (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wa Sallam): "Blessed are the strangers." Just two words... but indeed two words that shake a nation! In 23 years of hospital service, I have never seen the likes of this patient sister.

We continued to care for him. Now, six and a half months have passed and the boy finally came out of the recovery unit - not talking, not seeing, not hearing, not moving, not smiling, and with an open chest in which you can see his beating heart. The mother changed the dressing regularly and remained patient and hopeful. Do you know what happened after that? Before I inform you, what do you think are the prospects of a child who has passed through all these dangers, agonies, and diseases? And what do you expect this patient mother to do whose child is at the brink of the grave and who is unable to do anything except supplicate and beseech ALLAH? Do you know what happened two and a half months later? The boy was completely cured by the mercy of ALLAH and as a reward for this pious mother. He now races his mother with his feet as if nothing happened and he became sound and healthy as he was before.