- Friday, April 19, 2024
By: Keerthi Mohan
A young couple have revealed their anguish after a hospital in Dubai refused to hand over his newborn baby until they cleared all medical dues, which stands at £100,000.
Birmingham-based Azhar, 26, and Syeda, 23, welcomed Amal in July. She was born 23 weeks prematurely.
The young couple was visiting a foetal specialist in Dubai at the time of Amal’s birth. They were told by professionals that if the baby wasn’t delivered immediately “she wouldn’t make it.”
The absence of insurance cover and unplanned delivery have resulted in a heft medical bill.
Azhar and Syeda initially planned to deliver Amal in the UK and she had applied for a visa soon after their wedding in December last year.
But Syeda’s visa was rejected due to solicitor negligence.
Speaking to The Sun, Syeda said: “I planned to move to the UK with my husband who is British, after my wedding I went to the UK on visit visa for two months and came back to Dubai to apply for my spouse visa in March.
“I got pregnant in January.
“My visa for the UK got rejected because we submitted the wrong kind of IELTS test, based on our solicitors advise.
“We tried to appeal the decision of the visa, which is still under process, in hope it would be overturned by October and I could deliver our baby in the UK.
“Due to severe complications with my pregnancy we were enlisted to seek help of one of only two foetal specialists in Dubai.
“I went for a regular check up on 14th July and was admitted immediately at NMC Royal Hospital as my amniotic fluid was very low and our baby’s heart rate and blood pressure was decreasing rapidly.
The baby was delivered following an emergency c-section.
While Azhar has returned to the UK, Syeda and the baby are in Dubai. The hospital has refused to discharge Amal until the outstanding bill of £100,000 is paid.
Azhar said: “I have advised the hospital I can only pay instalments. I’m a recent graduate I don’t earn much and offered them payments based on my affordability to which they refused.
“They said they could spread payment over 12 months nothing more. That would be in excess of over £10,000 a month.”
The family have now launched a GoFundMe page in a bid to raise the money.
However, the couple fear that the bill could hit £200,000 by the time the baby is ready to leave.
