Abraham, a 5-year-old son of Cypriot parents living in Manchester, England, for the past decade, is fighting for his life after being diagnosed with ADEM (Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis), a rare and severe inflammatory disease of the brain and spinal cord.
Abraham, who will soon celebrate his fifth birthday, fell critically ill on October 9 and was diagnosed with the extremely rare and serious condition.
He has been hospitalized at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool since then. Doctors told the family that the child's condition is critical and expressed concern that he might not recover with the available treatment at their facility.
"The doctors tried one treatment that didn't help, and suggested we continue with chemotherapy," the mother, Andrea, explained to philenews. However, specialized hospitals exist in Israel and the United States with a proven track record of treating the disease. In Israel, this means Sheba Medical Center.
The Cypriot people opened their hearts
Andrea's parents, both nurses, decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds needed to fly little Abraham to Israel and hospitalize him at Sheba Medical Center. Media outlets on the island rallied to their cause, and within several days, 180,000 euros ($198,000) were collected toward the required 300,000 euros ($330,000).
But then Andrea received a surprising phone call. "It was the warmest and most hope-filled phone call I ever received," she said. The call was from Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulidis, who informed her that the state would bear the costs of Abraham's transfer and treatment in Israel.
"There are no words to express my gratitude to the Cypriot government for this decision, and to everyone who stood by us in these difficult days," the mother wrote. "I want to say a huge thank you to every person who prayed, who donated, who shared our story, or simply sent us a word of love. Your response was amazing and gave us the strength to continue. The fundraising page we opened will be closed, and the funds collected will be used solely for Abraham's full recovery. From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all of you. Together we proved that humanity has no boundaries," Andrea wrote in a Facebook post.
