Story about Altin Belba: The boy who meets death

2024-04-26 19:50:00, Opinione Luan Rama

Altin Belba

I was used to seeing Altin Belba, the thirty-two-year-old boy from Përrenajsi, almost every evening in the parking lot of one of the bars on the outskirts of the capital. Greetings formally. Always the same. More with eyes than words. After that, he continued his work in silence, never taking the phone out of his hand.

I didn't know his name, nor had I ever asked him where he came from. But I don't know why we were used to each other. Or at least it seemed that way to me. And every time I had to go to that parking lot, I knew I'd find him there. Kind and always alone in his silence.

So when I didn't see him again, I was struck by his absence.

At first I thought he might have changed his work schedule. Or maybe he took a few days off and will go to his parents, I justified to myself.

But it happened that Altini was absent for a long time at our meeting place. For as long as I can remember, I got used to his absence.

- Maybe he went elsewhere, to some country in Europe, to seek a better fate, I said to myself as the days passed and Altini was nowhere to be seen.

Daily routine leaves aside many episodes of human life. Its flow draws you in, grabs you and you are forgotten in it.

I also forgot Altin.

But, just when I was not expecting him, he appeared to me again in the same place. Equally silent in his silent kindness and always with the phone in his hand, never taking his eyes off it.

We were greeted politely. And I was glad to see him again. I didn't want to miss the chance to get to know him. So I asked him out of desperation:

-Excuse me, what is your name?

-Altin, he answered quite indifferently.

-Where are you from?, I continued.

- From Prrenjasi.

-Do the parents live there? I asked him further.

- Yes.

They don't mind my questions. Short answers are in his nature. Perhaps, because many people may have asked him, he is no longer impressed by this ritual.

- You have been absent for a long time, I have not seen you all these days, where have you been? - I asked persistently.

- I was meeting with death, he told me!

Barbell. I didn't know how to continue the conversation, although I wanted to ask him and learn as much as possible about him. I felt he wasn't joking, but I couldn't find the right words.

Altini understands my situation and how to make it easier for me continued:

-I suffered a severe hemorrhage. It happens to me often. And I go to the hospital half dead. That is, I meet death and come back again. I've been like this all my life. They give me blood there, they take care of me. They treat me well. But they can't heal me.

I was speechless. And I was looking at him as if numb.

Altini was diagnosed with portal vein thrombosis. Doctors say he was born with this disease. In order to save it, a surgical intervention is needed. But in our country this is impossible! That's what they told him.

But, they told him and even recommended him to go to Turkey. It has happened several times that in Turkey and everywhere else in Europe it is an intervention that is carried out successfully. But there it costs. About thirty thousand euros are needed. Altini does not have them. Even his parents don't have that much money. And unable to find money, he goes and comes and goes again, as far as Istanbul and here in our hospitals in the hope that he will be able to find a solution to escape from the death that has been put behind him.

The portal vein (hepatic portal vein) is one of the main veins of the human body. Simply put, this vein, the portal vein, takes blood from the intestines and takes it to the liver.

I don't know why in the "Mother Teresa" University Hospital Center it is impossible to carry out the intervention at the gate. Just as I cannot understand why human life is so worthless to our health system. And I don't want to believe that our doctors are incapable of doing this intervention. But she knows, and she knows this very well: the state has a duty to save the life of thirty-two-year-old Altini. And not only Altini obviously!

Altini deserves to live. Unfortunately, he was born with this disease, but as long as medical science has succeeded in making intervention in the portal vein possible, Altini should not be left to die. The state has the duty to protect his life.

In the midst of the political noise where all kinds of orators appear, who speak with pathos to convince us of their love for the people, we will continue to hear again about the incinerators and their thieves, about SPAK's concessions, about investigative commissions, for sterilization or for grouping "5D" and all kinds of tenders. We will continue to hear them talk about European integration, cyber security or even a report broadcast on Rai 3. They will also talk about the opposition who gather on the "Street of Hope" and listen to the Doctor give speeches from the balcony of the house where they changed it with a court decision or even for the statement of the President of the Republic at the international fair "Days of Agriculture 2024" that he feels proud that "Made in Albania" products are found on tables around the world. (Oh god what irony!)

What about Alti Belba, the thirty-two-year-old from Prerenjasi who meets death and fights for life, we will not hear anyone speak!