The Egyptian detainee Gehad Abdel Ghani Mohamed Selim sent a distress call from his prison in Abu Zaabal in Egypt to save his life, after cancer spread in his body, amid refusal from the prison administration to let him undergo a surgery to remove the cancerous tumours from his body.
In a leaked message, Gehad said that more than three months ago he had a prescribed surgery to remove the tumour which appeared in his body a year and a half while in prison, however the prison administration refused to send him for the operation without giving any reasons.
He added that he faced many violations since his arrest seven years ago, where he got arrested in a political case which lacked the minimum standards of a fair trial and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
In his letter, Gehad appealed to everyone to take action to help him receive the necessary treatment to save his life.
He stated that the tumour was a small one in his tongue at the beginning of his arrest in September 2015, but it spread in his whole tongue, his mouth and throat, and parts of his head, causing him severe pain, however he was subjected to deliberate medical negligence which contributed to the spread of the tumour.
He said: “Please help me. This is a distress call to all kind people. My name is Gehad Abdel Ghani Mohamed Selim. I’ve had a cancerous tumour in my tongue a year and a half ago. In prison, the tumour was small and, in my tongue, only until it spread in all my tongue, my mouth, neck, and head.”
He added: “Now I cannot speak, eat, or even drink water. The tumour closes the pharynx, so I cannot breathe, swallow or hear anything. I’m appealing for mercy.”
He continued, “I pray a lot to die, as I can no longer bear the pain.”
He said, “I received four chemical sessions, and I was supposed to have a surgery more than three months ago, but the date of the operation has not been determined. Cancer is spreading, and the pain kills me, and these hospitals have refrained from doing my operation three times, at the Institute of Oncology, Qasr Al-Eini and Nasser Institute. I’m appealing to all merciful hearts in this country to help me. I only want to have the surgery. I do not want to die like this.”
Gehad’s family confirmed that it submitted a number of communications and telegraphs to the Prosecutor General and the Prison Authority, to demand his right to treatment and to undergo the surgery, however they did not receive any response to date, despite the serious deterioration of his health condition which threatens his life in prison.
Gehad Abdel Ghani, 33, from Abu Kabir Centre, was arbitrarily arrested on September 13, 2015, and forcibly disappeared for more than 30 days, during which he was subjected to severe torture to confess committing crimes he did not do. He was detained in Zagazig Public Prison since his arrest, then transferred to Abu Zaabal prison which lacks the minimum safety and human health standards, thus threatening his life, in addition to being subjected to deliberate medical negligence there.
