Baby Malak:

The Story Goes On

One year ago, in our Summer ’08 edition of Jerusalem Scene, we brought you the story of baby Malak Dweik from Gaza.

Baby Malak was diagnosed with cancer of her left eye at 12 months and was treated at the Nobel Peace Prize nominated Hadassah Medical Center in West Jerusalem. With Malak now aged two years, we bring you up-to-date with this bitter/sweet tale.

When Baby Malak’s story was first brought to our attention, she was living in Gaza with her parents, two sisters and her brother. Her mother Fatmeh had realized that her daughter was having problems with her vision and brought Malak to see our doctors at the St John Clinic in Gaza . There, the severity of Malak’s case was immediately recognized and the decision was made that she needed to be transferred to the main Hospital in East Jerusalem. It took four months for the transfer out of Gaza to be given the go-ahead.

When she did arrive at the St John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem, our ophthalmologists examined Malak under anaesthesia. Concerned, the doctors sought a second opinion from colleagues at the Hadassah Medical Center in the West of the city. There, it was confirmed that Malak was suffering from cancer – or retinoblastoma – in her left eye.

It was immediately decided that Malak should undergo chemotherapy and Fatmeh was asked by the Hadassah doctors to bring the baby in on a weekly basis to complete the course of treatment. During this time, mother and baby were kept safe and well at our Jerusalem Hospital.

Initially the prognosis was good. Retinoblastoma is a fast growing eye cancer of early childhood that has one of the best cure rates of all the cancers that develop in children. More than nine out of ten children with retinoblastoma can be cured if the condition is detected and treated promptly. Fatmeh and Malak stayed at our Jerusalem Hospital and made the weekly journey west, where she was given her chemotherapy treatments through an implant in her chest.

Soon doctors began to believe that Malak could return home. Overjoyed, Fatmeh Dweik told us at the time, “St John really supported me financially and medically. I am now able to take my baby back to Gaza where she will be able to discover the world around her and recognize her family”.

However, during the recent terrible conflict in Gaza, all contact was lost with the Dweiks. When contact was re-established in the New Year, we were relieved, at first, to hear that, though the house had lost all its windows, Malak and her family had not been injured. She was to return to our Hospital in Jerusalem in February to receive follow up treatment.

But things had changed since Malak first made the Journey to Jerusalem. Previously, the costs of her treatment at Hadassah had been met by Palestinian medical insurance. After Operation Cast Lead, however, the Palestinian Authority stopped all referrals to Hadassah. On top of this, when we heard from the Dweiks in late February, it transpired that Malak was not doing well. She was having difficulty breathing and her temperature was too high. The machine that had been implanted in her chest in order to give her chemo had not been cleaned for three months.

On 23 March this year, baby Malak’s left eye was removed and an ocular prosthetic inserted. When the Dweiks had arrived once more at the St John Eye Hospital, Jerusalem our ophthalmologists had contacted Malak’s attending doctor at Hadassah who had advised that this was the only course of action available.
Malak’s right eye was judged to be healthy. She was discharged from the Hospital on 25 March.

Life in the Holy Land is not easy. Though baby Malak’s story is heart-rending, we must not forget that healthy right eye. Her story highlights the unbelievable, optimistic resilience and gratitude of the people we aim to help, many of whom, like the Dweiks, live on or below the poverty level. Fatmeh very much appreciates
the assistance and care that she and her daughter received while staying at our Hospital in Jerusalem and has said that she considers St. John, ‘her second family’.

Malak’s story is also an important one to us because it highlights the particular difficulties facing patients in a very troubled region of the world and illustrates so many of the different aspects of the work that we do there. In supporting Malak and her mother medically and financially during a fraught time, the St John Eye Hospital Group lived up to its deep rooted charitable ethos, putting the needs of the patient and her family before our own financial concerns. The story demonstrates the acuity and professionalism displayed by all of our Hospital and Clinic staff, as well as our charity’s good working relationship with colleagues at the Hadassah Medical Center in West Jerusalem.