New mother hospitalized with Crohn’s disease needs a $400 per month lifetime treatment Husband tells Arab News he’s willing to serve jail time for organ trafficking ‘if that is all it takes’ BEIRUT: A Lebanese man is willing to serve jail time for organ trafficking to sell his kidney to pay for his ailing wife’s medical treatment. The 35-year-old unemployed husband, Khalil Adnan Al-Dghayli, is in drastic need of $400 monthly payments for medication for his wife Sarah Al-Hussein, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease shortly after giving birth to a baby girl. “Being jobless and penniless, I am left with no options but to offer my kidney or any other organ for sale to get fresh dollars and pay for Sarah’s (wife) treatment,” Al-Dghayli told Arab News on Saturday. A father of two children from a previous marriage, Al-Dghayli married his Syrian wife in 2017. Shortly after delivering their newborn girl in April, the husband admitted his wife, who was suffering of severe intestinal pains and contractions, to Al Rai Hospital in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. Following medical checkups, she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a bowel condition that causes chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, which can lead to abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition. “As we speak right now, she has been in hospital for over five weeks. I was made redundant because I had to stay with her during her sickness. I cannot afford any hospital bills or treatments and I am in a very urgent need for $400 per month until September,” he explained to Arab News. Despite being aware that organ trafficking is a criminal offense, the 35-year-old took to social media and posted his hardship in a video on Facebook, offering his kidney for sale. “I know that I could face up to five years in prison. I need the money and I cannot sit down and do nothing for my sick wife. If going to jail is all it takes, so let that be it,” he said. Elaborating further on the upcoming medical charges, Al-Dghayli says his wife should go for a laparoscopy around October. “If the laparoscopy result shows that her body is responding with the treatment, then we should be paying that monthly amount for the rest of her life. If she is not responding, then we will have to pay $3,000 per month for two syringes forever,” he said. Al-Dghayli used to work in the food and beverages sector before the COVID-19 pandemic, and then moved to a medical cleaning company. Lebanon’s dollar exchange rate crisis has left patients unable to pay for treatment or hospitalization, as black market rates hit over 28,000 pounds to the dollar. Red Cross and Civil Defense volunteers have reported patients being transported to hospital in poor condition because they are unable to find correct medications due to lack of supply or funds. When asked if he has any property to sell, Al-Dghayli explained: “Nothing … I am totally broke. My family and I live in a rented place in Haret Saida for 1,200,000 Lebanese pounds ($42 as of Saturday). Now I have to also worry about rent, food and Sarah’s treatment.” Al-Dghayli revealed that some “compassionate contributors and NGOs committed to pay for five months treatment.” He added that the UN pays up to 80 percent of his wife’s hospital bill since she is Syrian. When asked if he had approached any Lebanese official or politician for assistance, he responded: “They are all useless and do not help. Nobody bothered. I am fed up and that is why I didn’t vote for any politician during the May 2022 elections.” Al-Dghayli added he did not have any expectations as to “how much proceeds he would generate from selling his kidney” as it was unavoidable. “Actually, it is more of a risk, as I cannot watch my wife aching without taking action. I am willing to sell more than an organ … I want to save her life as the family needs her, especially our newborn,” he said.