Father incurs Tk 6 lakh in debt trying to save twins, loses both to measles

For Harun ur Rashid, a small grocery shop owner from Mirsharai, the world crumbled in a span of just twelve days. His twin sons, Abdullah Al Fahim and Abdullah Al Noman, who once filled his home with their lively chatter, are both gone -- victims of measles and a healthcare gap that left them unprotected when it mattered most.

The second of his 13-month-old twins passed away on Wednesday night (June 3) while undergoing treatment. Just twelve days prior, his brother had closed his eyes forever at a hospital bed.

The tragedy has not only left Harun and his wife, Ishrat Jahan, emotionally traumatized but has also financially ruined a family that was already struggling to get by.

The heartbreak is compounded by bitter regret. Harun recalls the day he took his vibrant boys to a local government immunisation drive, hoping to shield them from disease.

"When I took my two children to get the measles vaccine, the workers on duty told me that they had ran out of doses," Harun lamented. "I couldn't get my boys vaccinated that day. Shortly after, the illness got to them."

What began as breathing difficulties for one twin in March soon turned into a nightmare. He was diagnosed with measles at the Chittagong Medical College Hospital. Though he briefly stabilised and was brought home, the virus swept through the household, catching up with his twin brother by mid-April.

As both children relapsed into severe complications, the family entered a grueling cycle of hospitalisations. After one of the twins succumbed to the virus, doctors delivered a panicked warning about the surviving boy: his condition was critical, and he needed to be rushed to Dhaka immediately.

What followed was a harrowing journey through the capital’s overburdened medical system.

"We ran from one hospital to another in Dhaka, begging for an ICU bed," Harun recounted. "After endless moving around, we finally secured a bed at an intensive care unit. He fought there for eight days, but on Wednesday night, he left us too. I lost my twins in just 12 days. How do I console my broken heart?"

Harun, who lost his own father at a young age and is the sole provider for his four sisters, wife, and a five-year-old daughter, put his entire life on hold to save his sons.

To pay for the expensive critical care, his tiny grocery store in East Khoiyachhara Takiapara remained shuttered for three long months. He exhausted his savings and borrowed heavily from anyone who would lend to him.

"I have spent nearly Tk 6 lakh by taking out loans. My wife and I stayed hungry at the hospital corridors just to stretch our money," said Harun, breaking down into tears.

"If my boys had returned to my arms alive, I wouldn’t have cared about the money or the debt. I would have happily worked the rest of my life to pay it back. But now, I am buried under a mountain of debt, and my chest is completely empty."

Asked about the allegation of running out of vaccine, Chattogram Civil Surgeon Dr Jahangir Alam said, “We had enough vaccines and so it is unlikely that a child would have left out of vaccination in Mirsarai,” adding, “I am taking note about it and I would look into it.”