The Magical Nose

One day, I entered the hospital with my colleague, the healthcare clown Dr. Latifa. There was a mother and father sitting with their son, and we had never seen them before. It was an incredibly difficult moment: the mother was crying, the father was in shock, unable to say a word. The child was frightened, staring at them and at the empty space around him without speaking—just waiting.

After we changed our clothes and put on our healthcare clown costumes, we began our tour and headed toward this family who were sitting in the Huda Al-Masri Unit’s waiting area. I approached the mother and started talking to her, but she didn’t respond, and neither did the father. The child, however, began telling his story, saying:
“I’m new here… They say I might have cancer. They took blood from me and they’re examining it, and I’m just waiting for the results with my parents… I hope I’m not sick.”

We told him: “You’re waiting for something really difficult, and we know… we know it’s scary. But hopefully you’re not sick and you’ll go home comfortable and happy. And even if—God forbid—the result is positive, you will get better and recover. Keep your spirits high and strong, because this illness is strong… but you are stronger, right?”

At that moment, the mother began crying even more, and so did the father. I looked into her eyes and began singing to her:
“Fouq il-nakhl fouq… ya ba, fouq il-nakhl foooouq…
I don’t know if it’s your cheek shining…”

The mother was under immense pressure, and everyone was tense, but suddenly she started laughing and crying at the same time, and the father did as well. The child looked at us, opened his eyes wide, started laughing, and then asked to play and sing together.

In that moment, we realised how deeply parents’ energy affects their children’s emotional state, and how much they truly need emotional support from their families.

Unfortunately, it later turned out that the child was indeed sick. But he became very attached to us, especially to me—“Dr. Shalaby”—because I made a huge difference in his mother’s emotional state, and she began to improve day by day. Every time the healthcare clowns came to the hospital, he would say: “I want Dr. Shalaby.”

And when I visited him myself, the whole atmosphere of the hospital would change—filled with laughter, dancing, and love.

Thank God, the child eventually became much better, was discharged from the hospital, and went on to continue his life normally—like any child who goes through something difficult and then rises again to start a new journey. And to this day, that child holds a very special place in my heart. I always remember him, because he brought a profound change to my life… both as a healthcare clown, and as a human being.