This dramatic footage shows a two-year-old boy’s daily battle with a rare eye cancer that’s slowly destroying his vision.
Muhammad Junaid, from a small village suffers from Retinoblastoma – a type of carcinoma that usually affects children under the age of five
A mass has grown on Junaid’s left eye, affecting his vision, and now his parents are desperately waiting for help in order to get their only son treated.
Junaid’s father, Arz Muhammad, said: ‘Junaid was born as a normal baby. But as he turned one-year-old, he would crying incessantly. Then a mass started growing on his left eye.’
The parents took their son to a a physician who uses traditional remedies.
‘The doctor gave some medicines that reduced his pain but the mass on his eye kept growing,’ says Muhammad, who works a daily wager and earns less than 300 Rs a day.
We got worried about his health but we didn’t had money to take him to a hospital
Muhammad’s father then gave him five thousand Rs for Junaid’s treatment.
Together, he and his wife 22, travelled almost 150 miles by bus to take Junaid to the Medical Centre.
At the hospital, their world was turned upside down when doctors told them that Junaid is suffering from Retinoblastoma.
‘We were shocked when doctors said he has cancer,’ Muhammad added.
‘We slept on a footpath near the hospital for three weeks as we didn’t had enough money to rent a room. My wife sold her wedding ring that is how we stayed for three weeks.
‘But when the treatment wasn’t started even then and we were completely out of money, we had no choice but to come back to our village.
‘I request the government to come forward and help my poor son.’
We have now started a fundraising campaign on social media for Junaid’s treatment.
‘They were heartbroken when I met them,’ he said.
‘I showed Junaid’s pictures to couple of my doctor friends who said that the boy is suffering from retinoblastoma and he needs to undergo treatment as soon as possible.
‘I have posted Junaid’s pictures on social media and I hope very soon we will accumulate enough funds so that he can be treated in a big hospital.’
