Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: August 7th, 2020
New York (TADIAS) — You may remember our story last year highlighting the incredible philanthropic work of Ahmedin Mohamed Nasser — an Ethiopian-American social entrepreneur in Oakland, California — who is the Founder of the Library Information Foundation For Ethiopia (LIFFE) and who spent over twenty years collecting and shipping books to various schools in Ethiopia to establish 23 libraries in his native country. He has indeed shown us and all Ethiopians how one individual can make an indelible difference in the lives of thousands through steadfast commitment.
This week Ahmedin shared that his sister, Nahla Mohammed, is a breast cancer patient fighting for her life in an intensive care unit at a hospital in Thailand after traveling there with her older sister in October 2019 to begin chemotherapy treatment. While Nahla initially made good progress, this was suddenly reversed after she acquired a severe infection caused by a virus and a fungus while in the midst of her chemotherapy treatment. For the past month Nahla has been hooked to a ventilator in ICU.
Ahmedin has set up a Gofundme page on behalf of his sister to help cover ICU care, which includes antiviral and anti fungal treatment, sedation, and various medications that is costing the equivalent of $3,000 dollars per day. The current outstanding medical bill is $48,000 dollars.
Due to the social distancing rules related to the Coronavirus pandemic, Nahla’s older sister, Amira Mohammed Nasser, who had accompanied her to Thailand is the lone family member in the country.
“As you may be aware, due to Covid- 19, Thailand has placed a strict ban on entry of their country, which restricts most people from entering until approximately October,” Ahmedin said. “Therefore, none of our family members can even go to help her out.” He continued: “Furthermore, all her health-related conversations held with doctors and the healthcare staff is done via telephone, WhatsApp and Zoom. Overall, this has been a very tough experience. There is also a huge time difference between the U.S and Thailand, which doesn’t help. The accumulated expenses from the hospital has now well surpassed our budget and we are asking for help with the hopes of saving my sister’s life. We are striving hard to save her and willing to do anything. Any donation and prayer would be very much appreciated.”
Ahmedin’s family has been able to raise nearly $30,000 through the Gofundme page, and need assistance to reach their goal of $50,000.
In an update posted today Ahmedin sincerely thanked his supporters for donating and sharing: “I appreciate your kindness very much and I hope that I can reciprocate it back to you in some way. Having said that ‘kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see,’ I strongly believe that kindness is never wasted. Thank you.”
To join the effort and to donate to Ahmedin’s family please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/my-sister-with-metastatic-breast-cancer-in-icu
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Related:
Spotlight: Ahmedin Mohamed Nasser’s Library Foundation For Ethiopia
Ahmedin Mohamed Nasser, Founder of the Library Information Foundation For Ethiopia. (Courtesy photo)