Thursday 03 / April / 2025
Muscat: The Ministry of Health confirmed that it was following-up on the case involving Mohammed Yaqub, 6, who is suffering from a brain tumour, after social media users began circulating his father’s complaint citing a delay by the hospital authorities in providing treatment to his child, which led to his current critical condition.
The Ministry of Health, through its Twitter account, said: “The Ministry confirms that it is following up on the case of the child, Mohammed Yaqub, after news about his condition was circulated via social media, and we will take the necessary action.”
This came in response to social media influencer Mohammed Al Hinai’s tweet, saying: “The child, Mohammed Yaqub, is in a critical state because of the delay in an emergency procedure and because the doctor told the family to wait for the official time on Sunday to perform the surgery, although Royal Hospital had asked that the surgery be conducted immediately.”
Yaqub Al Hinai, the child’s father, told the Times of Oman: “My son is currently in intensive care and his condition is unstable; he is in a coma and has suffered from cerebral haemorrhage. Previously, he went through two surgeries to remove his brain tumour and came out intact, but because of the delayed operation this time, his condition is very bad.”
The Ministry said in a statement online: “The Ministry of Health wishes to clarify that the nature of the illness suffered by the child may lead to complications. The medical team has made great efforts to provide surgical treatment to the child since 2015, and other treatment for the same disease and to follow up on his condition.”
“The Ministry understands the concerns of the child’s parents and emphasises that communication exists between the health care providers and the child’s parents and that they were familiar with the nature of the disease and the course of treatment of the child,” the statement added.
Mohammed had previously undergone two operations to remove the tumour from his brain. The first surgery was done four years ago and the second one was in January this year, but the tumour returned for the third time.
Yaqub Al Hinai said, “My son has been suffering from cancer for four years and was being treated at the Royal Hospital, but on Thursday, he showed strange symptoms. I took him to Royal Hospital. After a check-up, they discovered a large tumour in his brain and sent an urgent request to the other hospital to conduct a surgery because his condition was critical and his body was no longer responding to chemotherapy.”
According to Mohammed’s father, on Friday morning, Mohammed was transferred to the alternative hospital with a full medical staff because of his critical condition. “At the hospital, we waited for a long time and I spoke to the doctor and hospital administrator many times, asking them to begin the operation according to Royal Hospital’s instructions, but the doctor did not respond,” Al Hinai added.
The child’s condition worsened and they gave him an anaesthetic and a painkiller, but the child was still suffering.
Al Hinai said: “The last thing my son said was ‘dad please tell the doctor to perform the surgery quickly, I feel (as if) my head will explode’.”
“In the evening, my son suddenly suffered a big jerk while breathing and his heart stopped. They took two minutes to revive him and then took him to the intensive care unit. Later, the doctor came and asked me to sign papers to agree to perform the surgery on my son.”
“I signed, although the child was in a bad condition. After hours of the operation, the doctor told me that they could not complete the operation due to brain hemorrhage and a severe drop in pressure. They managed to remove a small part of the tumour to relieve the pressure on the child’s brain.”
