This 3-Year-Old Smiles Through The Pain Of Aggressive Eye Rare Condition, Help Him Survive

As Rashida held little Rahidul in her arms and watched him sleep, she wondered how a child so young could endure so much pain. Every time she looked at him, she was reminded of the deadly rare condition that was killing her 3-year-old. His left eye was painfully swollen because of the growing rare condition, and even a slight movement would cause him pain.

“But our Rahidul is a brave boy. He smiles through the pain and rarely cries, I think he has more strength than both my husband and I put together. Watching him fight rare condition is the toughest thing we’ve ever done. No parent wants to hear that their child could be taken away from them by something as deadly as rare condition, but that was exactly what happened to us a few months ago when our whole world came crashing down.” - Rashida Khatun, Mother

Over five months ago, 3-year-old Rahidul Hoque was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma, a rare type of eye rare condition. His parents, Mofizul Hoque and Rashida Khatun, have left no stone unturned to get him treated. Unfortunately, it’s not enough.

The Left Everything Behind In Their Village To Save His Life 

In a small village in Cooch Behar district in the northern part of West Bengal, Mofizul and Rashida started building a simple life for themselves. The birth of their firstborn, Rahidul, was the happiest day of their lives, and for over two years, this small family got by with whatever little they had. This year, the couple even found out that they were going to have a second child. Their happiness knew no bounds.

“Everything changed a few months ago. Rahidul was playing when he had a minor accident and hurt his eye. I’m a daily wager and work as a mason, so I wasn’t at home then. But I remember Radhida calling me crying. When the swelling didn’t reduce, we knew we had to take him to the hospital. The first hospital we took him told us that he had no chance of survival - the rare condition was just too aggressive. But how could we give up on our son?” - Mofizul Hoque, Father 

The couple then left everything they knew behind in their village to give their son the best chance of beating this disease. They brought him to Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh where they were told that their son could survive with chemotherapy and procedure. 

“We were so happy to hear that, but the expenses of the treatment were something that I worried about. I had a little money that everyone from the masjid had contributed, and my brother had helped me too. But I knew that wasn’t enough.” 

Now Rahidul has completed 6 rounds of chemotherapy and has 6 more left. He also had procedure two months ago. The little one has been through so much, but he continues to fight. The only thing standing in his way is their poverty. 

Help These Parents Take Their Son Home Healthy & Happy 

Rahidul’s fight against rare condition isn’t over yet. Although he’s responded well to the treatment so far, he needs to complete his chemotherapy cycles to beat it for good. However, his poor parents are struggling. They’ve spent over 50,000 so far, and have to spend over 4,000 for rent in Vijayawada. 

“I’m running out of everything I had. We even have to skip meals sometimes to save money. We’ve done everything we could for our child, and after all this, if he can’t complete his treatment, it will just break our hearts.” 

3-year-old Rahidul has a chance to be rare condition-free, but only with your support. Donate to give him his childhood back.