He had been trying to raise funds for his 4-year-old son's medical treatment. Sadly, this Singapore dad passed away, due to a sudden heart attack.
Former football player and coach of the Combined Schools FC, Nur Alam Shah, was the sole bread winner of the family. He leaves behind three young kids.
The youngest child has a life-threatening heart condition, and needs surgery.
Singapore dad dies of heart attack
38-year-old Nur Alam Shah was a former Woodlands Wellington Football Club player. He later founded the non-profit Combine Schools Football Club, which focused on building under-14, under-16 and under-17 teams to compete in local and overseas tournaments.
Shah and his wife, Madam Azean Aziz, have three children, aged 4, 8 and 14. Shah's youngest son Mohammad Royyan suffers from Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) - a heart defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart.
The little boy was born with the rare heart defect, and his father was desperate to save his life.
In a fund-raising page he had set up, Alam Shah had revealed, "I lost my daughter who had this problem also previously, she was born Nov 2007 but pass away in April 2008 due to the same problem, and I don't want this to happen to Mohammad Royyan."
"We come from lower middle family that will not be able to sustain for his long term medical fees, and I've since downgraded my house from 4 rooms to 2 rooms flats to clear the medical fees. Most importantly, the family have to stay healthy and stay together."
Sadly, this was not to be.
Nur Alam Shah died of a sudden heart attack on May 18, 2018.
Family seeks help to save son
Little Royyan has already undergone two surgeries. His first surgery was done when he was just 25 days old, which was an open heart surgery.
The last surgery, an angioplasty surgery, to widen up the heart, was performed in July 2017. The next surgery the little boy needs, is an intensive call mitral and aortic valve replacement.
Alam Shah had said, "We hope to seek your help to offset some of our medical bills, and even after subsidies, we still have to fork out approximately $120,000 in cash for his surgery."
With his passing away, the family has lost it's sole breadwinner.
Nur Alam Shah was known to be a kind man, who was passionate about football. He went out of his way to help young kids.
His wife, Madam Azean tells The Straits Times, "He always told me that we cannot just receive help, but instead try to do what we can to help others as well."
"He was very passionate about football and coaching so he spent his Sundays to coach children without charging anyone. He would even fork out his own money to send the children for tournaments."
theAsianparent extends it's sincere condolences to the family of Nur Alam Shah. We request all our readers to donate in whatever little way you can, to Royyan's treatment. Get well soon, Royyan.
Also READ: Singapore dad shares how a rare disease left his children bedridden and tube-fed
(Source: Give.Asia, The Straits Times)