The sad plight of a single mum with Buerger's disease in Singapore has come to our notice. We can't imagine what she's going through right now, and we request our readers to help in whatever little way they can.
Buerger's disease in Singapore
33-year-old mummy Nur Zakiah recently shared her plight on Give.Asia, and it's really heartbreaking. Nur is a divorcee and a single mum, and her son is only 5 years old.
In her younger, healthier days Nur, an animal lover, worked at the zoo. However her health started deteriorating when she was 16 years old...
She writes, "I’m suffering from Buerger’s Disease as well as Raynaud’s Phenomenon."
"Buerger's disease is a rare disease of the arteries and veins in the arms and legs and the blood vessels become inflamed, swell and can become blocked with blood clots (thrombi)."
"This eventually damages or destroys skin tissues and may lead to infection and gangrene. My Raynaud’s Phenomenon was the cause of my Buerger’s Disease."
According to the MayoClinic, the exact cause of Buerger's disease is unknown; however, tobacco use has been known to aggravate the condition.
Experts suspect that some people may have a genetic predisposition to the disease. It's also possible that the disease is caused by an autoimmune response in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue.
Symptoms of Buerger's disease are:
- Pain that may come and go in your legs and feet or in your arms and hands.
- Inflammation along a vein just below the skin's surface (due to a blood clot in the vein).
- Fingers and toes that turn pale when exposed to cold (Raynaud's phenomenon)
- Painful open sores on your fingers and toes.
Request for help
Nur used to be able to make arts and craft for sale to wedding planners, but now both of her hands are not as flexible as before.
Due to her worsening condition, she is increasingly having trouble doing simple tasks like holding or grabbing objects with her hand, and hence is unable to work.
To make matters worse, her husband has also abandoned her, leaving her to look after her son on her own.
She reveals that, "CDC Funds help us with $120 per month, and with the blessing of the mosque, we do receive $50 vouchers. However, the CDC Funds will expire in October, and we have to reapply, subject to their approval."
The support is however not enough to cover the expenses of the family, like food and shelter.
"Our rental for the flat is $250 per month, with utilities and groceries expenditure in total about $500 to $600 per month. "
Also, "My bandages, which is a special type of bandages call Mepilex AG, cost me about $120 per week, which I’m trying to save by looking for the cheapest source available. Till date, a social enterprise has been helping us, but they are unable to sustain and help us for too long."
She ends her plea with, "I’m only 33 and my life can’t be stop now, and I can’t stop because I have a 5 year old son to look after too."
Our heart goes out to Nur and her little son. Let's do our best to help Nur tide over this difficult period. No donation is too small.