Lebanon: Father mortgages car to hospital in exchange for infant son’s body

The image of Lebanese citizen Hussein Al-Baarini (43) shook social media sites, where he appeared carrying the body of his infant son in his arms, leaving the hospital on foot to bury him.

Al-Baarini was forced to mortgage his car at the hospital until the latter accepted the release of his son’s body due to his inability to pay the hospital bill.

Pictures and videos circulated on social media showing the father carrying his infant wrapped in a blue blanket after taking his final breath inside the Khalaf Al-Habtoor private hospital in Akkar, northern Lebanon.

Al-Baarini, from the town of Fneideq, told Anadolu Agency that he had to mortgage his car to retrieve the body of his infant, who died 25 days after birth. His bill amounted to $2,400.

He added that he had received a call from Khalaf Al-Habtoor Hospital informing him that his son had passed away after 25 days in the NICU, after suffering health problems since birth.

Al-Baarini added: “I went to the hospital to receive the body of my child, and the accounting employee asked me for $2,400. I did not object, but I only had 400 dollars. I offered it to her in exchange for receiving the body, but she refused without obtaining a guarantor.”

He pointed out that the employee asked him if he owned a car, and he continued: “I denied it at first, and when I asked her, she offered me to mortgage it in return for giving me the body of the child. After I thought about it, I handed her the car key, and she left the office and saw a doctor who was passing by. She asked him the car value, and he said, $2,000 or less.”

He said the employee: “Handed me a paper to receive the body of my child, on condition that she would return my car key after I pay the rest of the bill.”

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“When I took my child’s body, I asked her how I would transport him to town, and I was shocked by her answer, telling me to figure it out, so I walked out to the street before taking a taxi,” recounted Al-Baarini.

Director-General of Khalaf Al-Habtoor Hospital Rawa Al-Ahdab described what happened as: “A major misunderstanding due to the difficult economic conditions that all Lebanese citizens are going through, especially in the Akkar region.”

She pointed out that the father of the child: “Was distressed and his situation was difficult, although we assisted him with charities throughout his child’s stay in intensive care for 25 days. The accounting employee in the hospital only asked him for guarantees to recover the remaining amount. Leaving the car keys is the guarantee, and she did not know this would cause a media uproar.”

Al-Ahdab added: “When I learned about the matter, I called his father, offered him condolences, asked him to return to take the keys to his car and told him that I did not condone the employee’s behaviour. The media hype exaggerated the issue, and our relationships with patients are good, and our services have no limits.”

The director offered: “Her apologies to the citizens, especially the infant’s father, who accepted the apology and said that this is the reality of society and the state in general, which has abandoned the citizens.”

The head of the emergency department at the hospital, Doctor Maan Mahmoud, explained to Anadolu Agency: “What happened was a misunderstanding, and all I did was when I was asked by the accounting employee was to value the car owned by the child’s father, since I also work in the car trade.”

The Lebanese are suffering dire living conditions and a severe economic crisis. Medical services have become beyond the capabilities of many citizens in light of the high exchange rate of the dollar against the Lebanese pound and the low wages and salaries of employees and workers.

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