NEWS
Meet The Malaysian Man Who's Known As The Loneliest Man At Sydney Hospital
It's one thing to be hospitalised due to a rare illness, it's another to be totally isolated from the rest of the world.
That is exactly what a Malaysian construction engineer based in Sydney is going through right now.
Homeless and sick
34-year-old Khaidir Abu Jalil has been dubbed the “loneliest man” at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney after spending six months there without him receiving a single visitor.Malay Mail, quoting a report from Australia’s The Age newspaper, said Khaidir is suffering from a rare autoimmune disease with only a 50 per cent chance of survival.
According to the report, all of Khaidir's family members are in Malaysia, and he does not have any friends in Australia.
Worse still, he doesn’t have a phone or internet access.
Dr Laila Girgis, the head of rheumatology at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Public Hospital, had diagnosed Khaidir with dermatomyositis, a rare auto-immune disease one's skin and muscles.She told The Age that everyone at the hospital feels sorry for Khaidir.
“We were struck that he’s only 34, the prognosis was very poor, and being so sick, and in intensive care, there was not one visitor who could be with him,” she was quoted as saying.
Since February of this year, Khaidir has lost half of his weight, as he now only weighs 42kg and the condition of his lungs has been deteriorating.He was even resuscitated in the intensive care unit more than once, the website reported.
His prognosis doesn't seem to promising either: he can only at a homeless shelter for two more weeks and he had been left jobless due to the pandemic.
As he had lost his job as a construction engineer in Melbourne, his visa status is uncertain and he is now homeless.
Despite all the problems going on in his life, Khaidir said that he "is a fighter" and he is determined to fight the disease.
The report said that with the care of the hospital staff members, Khaidir is recovering.
After an Australian newspaper picked up Khaidir's plight, two kind Malaysians - Chiu Lau and Isaac Wong - have started a donation drive on crowd-funding site GoFundMe.
Malaysians set up fund
After an Australian newspaper picked up Khaidir's plight, two kind Malaysians - Chiu Lau and Isaac Wong - have started a donation drive on crowd-funding site GoFundMe.The duo have managed to raise AUD23,756 (RM73,110) in just five days.
If you want to lend Khaidir a helping hand, you can check out his GoFundMe page here.
We pray for Khaidir's speedy recovery.
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