Yemeni MP Works at a Café in New York After Undergoing Open-Heart Surgery

Yemenat

Mohammed Al–Mekhalfi

In May 2025, Yemeni parliamentarian Ahmed Saif Hashed arrived in New York, his heart burdened with pains that had strained his arteries until they seemed on the verge of bursting.

These pains were the result of exhaustion and the immense pressures he had endured while defending the oppressed and the ordinary people.

He came carrying both his illness and the weight of a homeland that never left him, searching for treatment after medical options in his own country, which is suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, had become impossible to access.

His arrival in the United States was not an ordinary medical journey. It was made possible by a noble humanitarian effort undertaken by the Yemeni community in New York.

They arranged everything for him, including medical appointments, hospital procedures, housing, and even the smallest details he might need while living away from home. They opened their doors and their hearts, standing by him as children stand by their father.

They deserve deep gratitude and appreciation for their stance, which reflects the genuine character of Yemenis wherever they may be, and for the support that became a pillar for him in one of the most challenging moments of his life.

Hashed underwent open-heart surgery in one of New York’s leading hospitals, and the operation was successful.

After several days of careful medical supervision, the doctors advised him to remain under observation for nearly two months so that his condition could stabilize and his wounds could fully heal.

Yet Hashed, true to his nature that resists waiting and refuses long stays away from home, declined to remain. He gathered his weary heart and the wounds that had barely begun to heal, and he left New York for Cairo.

The journey was long and exhausting. He experienced sharp pain around the site of the surgery, and dark patches appeared near the incision due to pressure and long hours of sitting.

He endured everything in silence until he arrived in Cairo in early October. There he found himself alone between the four walls of a small apartment, trying to adapt to solitude and to gather the strength needed to complete a treatment journey that was far from over.

He still required surgery on his palate and continued to suffer from spinal problems and peripheral neuropathy, all of which demanded constant care and long patience.

Despite these burdens, he tried to remain standing. At times he danced or posted lighthearted videos on his Facebook page, not out of joy, but in an attempt to escape the heaviness of reality, to hide for brief moments from Yemen’s complex and painful scene and from the recent events that threaten to divide the country.

The accumulated physical and emotional pressure eventually made the decision to return to New York inevitable. He returned carrying a burden greater than the strength of his exhausted body.

He wished he could have visited his homeland, even for a single day, to see his family he had left behind in Sana’a. His family lives in a modest rented apartment and endures the same hardships faced by ordinary Yemenis

They are neither villa owners nor people of wealth, but a family much like the millions who have been crushed by war and constrained by life.

He returned to New York in search of a renewed chance at life, even though his heart remained attached to the place he had left behind, the place where his country, his family, and all his memories reside.

Only two days after his return to New York, he appeared in a photograph on his Facebook page, working in a café and preparing a cup of coffee for a customer.

For those who knew his history and his principles, the image was painful, yet it was also bright and revealing. It exposed the contrast between a man who chose to remain honorable and dignified, and the many corrupt figures who sold their conscience for trivial gain.

He stood behind the coffee machine just as he had always stood behind his principles. He was steadfast, unashamed of honest work, and unafraid to face the truth. He lived a simple life that mirrored his spirit, a life that was pure, sincere, and untouched by power or self-interest.

This is Ahmed Saif Hashed: a patient fighter who does not bend under the weight of illness or the harshness of exile and who does not change with shifting circumstances.

He carried the wounds of his nation before his own, and his heart, burdened with the sorrows of his homeland, remained stronger than any ailment.