JEDDAH, 1 March — A South African physician, who arrived here during the Haj to attend to his sick son and daughter-in-law, returns home tomorrow satisfied that he performed a noble deed of attending some sick pilgrims in the process.
He even pushed the wheelchair of a pilgrim suffering from a kidney stone some kilometers. “Traffic was heavy and the sick pilgrim needed immediate hospitalization. So I had no other option but to push his wheelchair from Muzdalifah to a hospital in Mina opposite the Jamrat. I had a sense of pride when pushing the wheelchair of the sick pilgrim,” Dr. Abdul Wahab Barday told Arab News yesterday.
Barday and his wife Maimouna managed to organize Haj visas and reach here during the peak Haj season after their son informed them that both he and his wife were suffering from influenza.
“I had no plans to perform Haj this time, as I was here for the annual pilgrimage 18 years ago. But it was a Godsent opportunity for me to come here to take care of my son and daughter-in-law during the Haj,” Barday said.
“My daughter-in-law first developed flu symptoms and then my son contracted it. Eventually both developed secondary infection. So my wife was very much concerned and persuaded me to go for Haj and surprise the sick children. We arrived in Makkah 10 days before the Haj,” said South African-born Barday whose grandfather migrated to Cape Town from western India’s Konkan region.
Barday said his wife also got a bad attack of flu with secondary infection within two days of arrival.
“And soon after the Haj, I started getting flu symptoms including joint pains. Being a doctor I knew an effective drug newly introduced by Hoffmann-La Roche Pharmaceuticals that could bring instant relief and I’m almost free from it even as I am completing a five-day course,” Barday said.
Elaborating on the drug, the Cape Town physician said: “Tamiflu is a new generation drug, antiviral and antiflu. It prevents virus from replicating.”
Barday said his son, who was on antibiotics from the beginning, now was a victim of post-viral cough syndrome, which could last for two to three weeks.
“Antibiotics don’t work against the flu viral. If he had taken the new exclusive flu drug as soon as he had got the symptoms, he would have had relief within 12 hours,” Barday said, adding that pilgrims becoming sick during the Haj needed instant relief as otherwise they tended to miss their prayers.
“However, what is important is one should know to differentiate between a common cold and flu. When you’ve a sudden cold with running nose and/or sore throat then it’s a common cold. Symptoms of flu may include fever/chills, cough, muscle aches and pains, headaches and fatigue/weakness. These symptoms are a direct consequence of viral replication,” he says.
Barday had a word of praise for the Kingdom for the elaborate arrangements for the over two million pilgrims.
“Many Haj services have improved over the years, but I was disappointed by the lack of traffic control on the day of Arafat,” he said, adding: “Authorities may consider a new system of transportation for pilgrims going from Jeddah to Makkah, Makkah to Madinah and Madinah to Makkah during the pilgrimage.”
Arrangements for the stoning ritual were also systematic and well organized, he noted.
Being a medical man, Barday found health services had improved a great deal. “Health care facilities in the holy places are amazing,” he said.
He estimates that 6,500 South Africans performed the Haj.
“The number was less than half of what they were two or three years ago. The reason for the drop is the devaluation of South African rand,” he said, adding that the country had a population of 45 million, some five percent of them Muslim.
