Young Emirati Receives New Lease on Life After Double Lung Transplant at 20
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Young Emirati gets new lease of life with double lung transplant after TB and Covid fight
A young Emirati man, Juma Mubarak Al Ali, has defied the odds by becoming the youngest person to undergo a double lung transplant at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. This remarkable feat comes after a harrowing battle with both tuberculosis and COVID-19.
The 20-year-old Juma, an avid football player, faced a life-threatening situation when the two illnesses struck him simultaneously. His family, including his mother Mona Hamed Ahmed, bravely walked him through a challenging journey.
“It all started with a fever,” Ms. Ahmed recalls in an interview with The National. “Juma, who has asthma, developed a fever on March 13, 2022, that wouldn’t go away. One day, his condition worsened – he was struggling to breathe. We rushed him to the emergency department, and his fever had skyrocketed to over 40°C.”
Juma’s diagnosis confirmed the worst – both tuberculosis and COVID-19 were attacking his lungs. His condition deteriorated rapidly, leaving his survival dependent on the swift and skilled intervention of the medical team at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.
