The devastated parents of a Dundee baby who died only months after his uncle was shot dead in Pakistan have spoken of their heartache.
Naeem Aftab Alam was born 13 weeks premature in May and admitted to the neonatal ward at Ninewells Hospital.
He was transferred to the paediatric ward in November and his parents hoped to bring him home after the Christmas holidays, but tragically his condition deteriorated.
He was moved to Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow in the first week of February, where he died last week.
His father, Aftab Alam Qureshi, 39, said: “We are really devastated. He was born two days after my brother-in-law was murdered.
“He was born two-and-a-half months early, nearly the weight of a bag of sugar.
“We spent day and night for nine-and-a-half months going to see him. It’s really, really difficult.”
The couple’s baby boy had been suffering from chronic lung disease and was placed on increasing levels of oxygen, eventually being hooked up to machines in Glasgow.
His mother Kauser said: “It’s a very big loss. His lungs were totally damaged. The doctors in Yorkhill said he had an infection.
“He kept getting blue and his heart rate was very fast.”
The loss of baby Naeem comes only months after the death of Kauser’s brother in Pakistan.
A gunman killed Naeem Shehzad at his home in Lahore with six bullets hitting him in the chest, lungs and upper body.
Last night Aftab Alam paid tribute to the support he and his wife had received throughout their ordeal from their local politicians.
He said: “Shona Robison, Craig Melville and Stewart Hosie are saying their doors are open to us.
“My heartbroken wife needs support. We don’t have any family here. All our family is back in Lahore and Kauser’s mother Saeed Akhter had a heart problem and she’s been hospitalised.
“We need support. Our lives will never be the same again.”
Shona Robison said: “We were all very sorry to hear what has happened and our sympathies go to Mr and Mrs Qureshi.
“I am hoping to arrange a visit to convey our sympathies in person.”