(Xinhua photo)
HANGZHOU, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Like all infants, 20-month-old Adel is curious about the world, keen to romp, play and explore all the exciting things around him.
But the long tube trailing behind him betrays his secret: Adel was born without a small intestine and his parents were told to not expect him to live past his first 10 days.
"I will look after him until the last second," Abdulkader Al Kubaisy,the baby's father, said.
Adel was born in Hangzhou, capital of the eastern province of Zhejiang on Jan. 30 last year, while his Iraqi father was there on business. Before his parents could celebrate, however, doctors at the Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine informed them of their son's health condition.
An invasive operation on the tiny babe-in-arms revealed that his small intestine was only 20 centimeters long. Usually it stretches for two to three meters.
"This is my first child. I cannot see him die," his father said.
Three operations later and Adel is the first baby in China to survive without a small intestine.
Yet, his survival has come at a cost, as Adel has spent all his formative months in the hospital instead of being at home with his parents.
"He is so adorable, such big eyes and long eyelashes," said Ma Xiaolu, vice director of the hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Due to his incomplete digestive system, Adel cannot eat solid food and, instead, lives on nutrient solution.
He also has difficulty swallowing, chewing and sucking, and his teeth are growing much slower than children of the same age.
"Without an intestine transplant, he may not survive," said Ma bitterly. It is a double-edged sword, as intestine transplants are very risky for children so young, the change of survival is around 25 percent.
His desperate father has contacted hospitals in America, Germany, India and Canada but to no avail.
"I chose to keep him alive, I will do anything to keep him alive," Al Kubaisy said.
Al Kubaisy works in Yiwu city, which is about six hours' drive from Hangzhou. He has rented an apartment near the hospital, so that he and his wife can spend more time with Adel.
"Our baby is everything to us," he said.
The hospital staff are upbeat that if a donor is found Adel can grow up and have a future.
"We have been with him since he was born, and we really wish he will have a good future," said a young doctor who didn't give her name.
Holding Adel's hand, she said, "we want to share his story with more people, that way, perhaps, there will be a miracle."
