I STAYED: a Single Father, Child in Pain, and Twelve Years of Unbreakable Love

When Abu Maher became a father, he imagined the ordinary things parents imagine: watching his son grow, taking him to school, helping him discover the world, and being there as childhood unfolded. But shortly after his son was born, he learned that the life ahead would be very different. His son had severe bilateral clubfeet, and treatment began almost immediately. Casts, surgeries, physiotherapy, braces, hospital visits, and years of follow-up became part of their lives. What began as a medical challenge gradually became a test of everything Abu Maher thought he knew about fatherhood, responsibility, sacrifice, and love. For twelve years, he remained beside his son through painful procedures, uncertainty, financial hardship, emotional exhaustion, and the countless demands of raising a child whose childhood could not be separated from his medical journey. There were moments when the weight became almost impossible to carry. There were sacrifices that few people saw and struggles that were rarely spoken about. Yet their story was never only about hospitals and treatment. It was also about school mornings, homework, ordinary conversations, laughter, growing independence, and the quiet routines through which a father and son built a life together. I STAYED is a deeply personal memoir about what happens when love becomes a daily commitment rather than a feeling. It is about the fears parents carry for their children, the choices made when there are no easy answers, and the strength found in continuing through circumstances you never expected. Above all, it is a story about a father and his son-and about the promise that shaped them both. Sometimes, love does not mean knowing how everything will end. Sometimes, it simply means staying.