When I see a rubber boat and a headline with “boy” in it, I freeze. Can I bear to see another heartbreaking story on refugees in need of help?
Thankfully, this was a fabulously heartwarming stowaway story. Thirteen-year-old Ahmed Mahmoud wants nothing more than for his little brother—who is just seven years old—to be healthy.
The boys live, destitute, in an area of Egypt where the hope of medical care for a little boy with thrombocytopenia is practically nil.
In desperation, Ahmed chose to be smuggled into Italy, a country that thankfully, opened its heart and purse to help the little guy.
Thrombocytopenia is a condition that causes a lower than normal number of platelets in the blood. That means that the blood doesn’t clot the way it should. Should someone with thrombocytopenia experience a serious bleed—especially in the brain—they could die.
So Ahmed’s fears for his little brother were well-founded.
But thanks to one very brave big brother, treatment is now available for the youngest Mahmoud.
If you want to read more about Ahmed’s dangerous journey, click here.
