Medical aid: Change your life with a key-stroke

Stroke survivor creates website to ease suffering of other patients

KARACHI: For Azmat Abbas Alibhai it has been a year since she suffered a stroke - a condition that can lead to paralysis if not treated in time.

Last year, before her stroke, Alibhai, who was 42-years-old at the time, was a fitness freak and yoga instructor who believed that breathing, motivation and meditation are the best tools to ward off any illness. She still believes it.

One day in August, 2015, Alibhai was having lunch at home with her husband when she suffered a stroke. Luckily, her husband rushed her to the hospital and she was able to survive the attack. It was very difficult for her to come to terms with her new, albeit temporary, circumstances. She was in full possession of her mental faculties but could not say what she wanted. Her thoughts could not be translated into words as she had trouble moving her tongue.



"This was a massive stroke. I was in a vegetative state for quite some time, with my husband tending to my care and my two young kids' who were completely shattered after seeing me like this," she said.

At a private hospital, where she was in the intensive care unit for five days and in a private room for the next 10 days, Alibhai spent her time trying to move her limbs herself. They were numb which gave her a feeling of unease but also a will to fight. She also suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the stroke. In January 2016, when she was on the road to recovery, Alibhai realised there really was no one out there who could assess the condition of a stroke survivor.

Therefore, she recently launched a website called Falij.com which helps and motivates other stroke survivors to fight the disease.

"I do not want others to suffer like I did. Here is a little toolkit that chalks out methods of prevention, what kind of treatment or rehabilitation a patient can have," she explained. "The website will also help heal those suffering from psychological scars and emotional imbalances faced on a daily basis," she said.

"Don't ever pity a victim of a stroke, don't even show them pity, these are people who most definitely were independent; make them feel that they can tend to their well-being on their own," she advised. "If you pity them, it will lead to self-pity, which is a very harmful thing. Make it as normal as possible for them to survive," she explained further.

Alibhai is currently working with a neurologist to create a support centre for stroke survivors, where she will offer yoga, physiotherapy and nutritional counseling. She is in the process of securing the help of a centre based in Houston, Texas, which will donate resources to make her dream a reality.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2016.