KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian construction engineer Khaidir Abu Jalil, 34, has been dubbed the “loneliest man” in St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, where he has spent at least six months without a visitor.
The Sydney Morning Herald today reported that Khaidir suffers from a rare autoimmune disease with a 50% survival rate, but he does not know anyone in Australia.
Khaidir’s family reportedly does not own a phone or have internet connection at home.
He fell ill in February, but arrived at the hospital only in July and without a diagnosis.
Since February, his weight is down to 42kg, more than half of what he weighed a few months earlier. His temperature also spikes past 40°C daily.
He is reported to have necrotising skin lesions on his hands and elbows, while his lungs have been rapidly deteriorating. He was even resuscitated in the intensive care unit more than once.
St Vincent’s Hospital is known as a place where many people experience the worst moments of their lives.
But things are about to get worse for Khaidir. He is expected to be discharged this week – with only two weeks’ accommodation lined up in a homeless shelter, called Tierney House, operated by the hospital.
It will be an uncertain time for him as he has no money and an unpredictable visa status.
His doctors were quoted as saying that they had not treated anyone so alone for so long.
Since the pandemic, the hospital has been treating those who are sick and stranded in the country, many without Medicare support.
Khaidir, who used to work in Melbourne, had lost his job and became homeless after his apartment lease ended in Victoria.
He had been transferred from two hospitals – Leeton District and St Vincent’s Private Community Hospital in Griffith – with doctors thinking he had an infectious disease.
Dr Laila Girgis, head of rheumatology at St Vincent’s Public Hospital, and her team diagnosed Khaidir with dermatomyositis. He suffers from a variant that rapidly scars his lungs, reducing his survival to 50% over six months.
However, with the care of the hospital staff members, he is recovering.
Describing himself as a “quiet, reserved person”, Khaidir has been assuring the medical workers that he is a “fighter”.
While he does not have visitors, he has friends inside the hospital. Staff members will bring him sweet treats, and a former patient even arranged to take him out for a barbecue.
The Vibes is trying to contact Khaidir and Wisma Putra. – The Vibes, December 23, 2020
