“I am seven years old and I have cancer,” he says. “Please save my life and help me.”
Khalil - who is pictured above in a still from the film - didn’t want to record this, says his mother Aljin. She had been asked to shave his head, and then a film crew hooked him up to a fake drip, and asked his family to pretend it was his birthday. They had given him a script to learn and recite in English.
And he didn’t like it, says Aljin, when chopped onions were placed next to him, and menthol put under his eyes, to make him cry.
Aljin agreed to it because, although the set-up was fake, Khalil really did have cancer. She was told this video would help crowdfund money for better treatment. And it did raise funds - $27,000 (£20,204), according to a campaign we found in Khalil’s name.
But Aljin was told the campaign had failed, and says she received none of this money - just a $700 (£524) filming fee on the day. One year later, Khalil died.
