Nurse, visually-impaired couple persevere amid challenges in Holy Land

MAKKAH - A male nurse and a visually-impaired couple have persevered through the challenges they faced when performing haj.

For Khairul Anuar Ramli who works at the Tabung Haji (TH) treatment centre here, he received sad news from home that his mother, Kamaliah Abd Hamid had died last Saturday.

He said he was taking a break after finishing work and did not realise that there were several phone calls from his wife and family members early Saturday morning.

He only found out about the news after reading a message from his wife at dawn local time (4.11 am).

"My wife told me to be strong, this is one of the tests I have to face when I’m on duty here," he told reporters when met here.

Khairul Anuar said that even though he was sad because he could not be with his family to help with the funeral arrangement, he had to remain strong to continue his duties and could only send prayers for his late mother from the Holy Land.

He said that his 69-year-old mother visited her sister's house in Ipoh, Perak before experiencing vomiting and shortness of breath and was confirmed dead at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital, Ipoh.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Bukhari Zakaria, 64, and his wife Siti Aidah Mustapha, 52, who live in Jalan Loke Yew, Kuala Lumpur, refuse to allow their physical disabilities to become an obstacle in performing the haj.

"The staff of TH helped a lot, as did the roommates, but we don't want the staff and our roommates to be burdened with our issues and disrupt their worship," said Siti Aidah, adding that they did not have an escort when they were in the Holy Land. - BERNAMA