Saudi Gazette Numerous stories of patience, love, and hope circulate in our society and leaves us with admiration and astonishment. One such story is of three blind sisters in Jeddah hoping and praying for their mother to come out from a coma is no exception. Qamara has been in a coma for the past 11 years. Her three blind daughters daily, dutifully visit her everyday after Maghrib to read the Qur'an to her. Aisha, one of Qamara's daughters told Al-Watan, “My three sisters' visual impairment did not stop them from going to the Rehabilitation Center every single day to read the Qur'an and pray for my mother who has been in a coma for 11 years. They may have lost their sight, but they did not lose their hope and conviction that my mother's health will be restored to her frail body and that one day she will come home to us. They visit her every evening even though two of them have recently got married.” Aisha explained that blindness is hereditary and there are five blind members in her family. She said that all her sisters gradually lost their sight during early childhood except for the youngest sister who was born blind. And, if the recurrent blindness in the majority of the family members was not enough, another catastrophe struck them. Their mother, the backbone of the family, was diagnosed with brain tumor. Surgery was the only solution to get rid of the large tumor, though during the surgery complications arose and Qamara slipped into coma. Qamara's eldest son, Abu Manar, added, “After the hospital staff tried everything to help her, they informed us that they could no longer do anything for her and that she would remain in coma for an indefinite amount of time. We decided to transfer her to the Rehabilitation Center where we visit her, talk to her, pray, and read the Qur'an for her every day, in hopes that one day she will wake up.” As the years droned on, Aisha and her siblings graduated from high school, and some of them went on to get married; all the while their mother has been lying lifeless in bed. The eldest daughter Fatimah does not think that their daily visits to their sick mother is unusual or out of the ordinary. “What we are doing for our mother is actually very small in comparison to all the suffering, hard work, and difficulties she endured to take care of us when we were children. We have adjusted our lives to fit in these daily visits to our mother and although we have accepted the reality of her situation, we still hope that she will awaken by the will of Allah,” she said. Everyone in Qamara's household is talented in beautifully reciting the Qur'an and they have all learned and perfected the rules of Tajweed. Fatimah along with her four other blind sisters, learned how to read the Qur'an using in Braille at a school in Jeddah for children with special needs. Fatimah now teaches blind children how to read Braille at a government school in Jeddah. The ophthalmologist of these awe-inspiring sisters, Dr. Abdullah Al-Owaidi, said that the type of blindness which struck this family is unfortunately quite common in Saudi society, especially in communities where marriage between close blood relatives is widespread. “Genetics plays a definite role in the incidence of congenital glaucoma. If glaucoma runs in the family, newborns must be carefully examined by an eye doctor because early diagnosis and immediate treatment can save the child's vision before any irreversible damage takes place. Parents must watch out for symptoms such as enlarged pupil, a milky color of the cornea, high sensitivity to light, or excessive tearing, and quickly seek medical attention.” The director general of the Rehabilitation Center where Qamara lies in sound slumber, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Hajj, said, “I admire Qamara's daughters and their deep devotion, love, and loyalty towards their mother. We have some patients in the center whose families have abandoned them and have cut off all forms of connection with them. Some family members have moved houses and changed their mobile phone numbers without even notifying us of the change of address or any alternative contact information.” __
