Source: Middle East
Writer: Vivian Haddad
Since the beginning of his acting career, Fadi Ibrahim has left an imprint on the Lebanese. A young and handsome young man with a striking presence on the small screen, he stole everyone’s attention. His spontaneous performance added sparkle to his charisma. Actor Fadi Ibrahim is included in the list of giant Lebanese artists. His brilliance, which began to increase day by day through the works he presented, included him on the list of distinguished actors locally and in the Arab world.
On the small screen as well as on stage, Fadi Ibrahim did not go unnoticed. A high-class Lebanese artist who made a difference on the scene. He transformed from an actor in local productions into an Arab star in mixed series.
Today, Ibrahim is going through a harsh experience due to the deterioration of his health condition. He has been lying in the Heart of Jesus Hospital in the Hazmieh area for about three months. He is expected to remain there for a parallel period until his treatment ends. Ibrahim suffers from diabetes, which, after his blood levels worsened, led to the amputation of his foot and some fingers on his hand. He may undergo successive surgeries if his conditions develop worse.
The head of the Actors Syndicate, Nima Badawi, says that Ibrahim, despite all these difficulties, remains cohesive and solid. He explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that “his morale is very high, and his smile has not disappeared from his face. All of his colleagues stood by him and supported him in his ordeal. Some of the Tarab stars even surprised him by how much they cared about his situation. They did not hesitate to provide him with financial assistance.”
In addition to suffering from diabetes, Ibrahim suffered from kidney failure, forcing him to undergo dialysis twice a week. “The problem is that the cost of his treatment exceeded the amount covered by health insurance. Because the matter will require additional months, we, the union, had to raise our voice to provide financial assistance to him.”
Captain Badawi says that Ibrahim entrusted him with this task, so that he would be the only reference for receiving aid. “Unfortunately, I opened electronic pages, and all he had to do was assign me the task of officially receiving this aid.”
Badawi invites anyone who wishes to provide assistance to Fadi to contact him personally. Due to the Lebanese state’s failure to cover Fadi Ibrahim’s treatment expenses, most of his colleagues expressed their dissatisfaction with this issue.
“It is shameful for a Lebanese actor to reach this point after great neglect by the Lebanese state,” says his colleague, actress Carmen Labs. As for the artist Elissa, she made sure to send him a direct message of support: “Please, let us all stop a great artist who has given a lot to art, but art has given nothing.”
Because the capabilities of the artistic unions in Lebanon are limited, the voices of their leaders were loud, calling for a helping hand to be extended to Fadi Ibrahim. Captain Badawi commented to Asharq Al-Awsat: “The state sponsored the payment of the cost of dialysis at the initiative of the Ministers of Culture and Health, Judge Muhammad Wissam Al-Murtada and Dr. Firas Abyad. This is equivalent to $1,400 a month, but his long stay in the hospital requires huge sums of money. The story is not a bazaar because people’s dignity cannot be played with. “It is a call from the heart to everyone who wishes to provide assistance to Fadi.”
Fadi Ibrahim had issued a statement to put an end to any rumors about him. He said in it: “My friends and loved ones, I extend my deepest thanks and gratitude to you for your love and great concern for my critical health situation, which you expressed through social media, and I acknowledge the efforts made by the Syndicate of Theater, Cinema, Radio and Television Actors, which has been following up on all the details from the beginning, and has the answer to any question.” , specifically in the person of Captain Nimah Badawi. With my sincere thanks, gratitude and love. Fadi Ibrahim.
His friend for more than 30 years, director Elie Maalouf, spoke about Fadi Ibrahim’s condition to Asharq Al-Awsat: “His treatment is the responsibility of the Lebanese state, but unfortunately it did not provide him with the required assistance. Fadi is not an ordinary artist, and he will not be repeated. He is a difficult figure on the artistic scene, and it is not permissible for him to be neglected when his country is in dire need.”
Fadi Ibrahim never left Lebanon or thought about emigrating, despite his possession of Australian citizenship on his mother’s side. He presented artistic works that were engraved in the memory of Lebanese and Arab viewers. Some of his roles are unforgettable by the Lebanese, and to this day they continue to call him “Nader Sabbagh,” the name he bore in the series “The Storm Blows Twice.” And “Nader Mesh Qadir” from a play starring the late Marwan Najjar. Many people memorized it with characters that embodied it, such as “Ibrahim Pasha” in “Yasmina” and “Al-Khawaja Wajih” in “All Love, All Love.” They also remember him in the characters of Ayoub, the Whale, Farid Nahhas, and Bahaa in “The Peasants’ Revolution,” “2020,” “For Death 2,” and “Secret.”
In addition to acting, Fadi Ibrahim worked in makeup for actors. He also excelled in a profession that requires high artistic sense.
