Who will marry my polio-stricken granddaughter?

Gul was some 5 months old when she got infected with crippling virus despite having been inoculated against poliovirus

PESHAWAR: Refusal to administer polio drops to children, especially girls, at the right age can have dire consequences for them in the future. One such story is of a three-year-old poliovirus victim Nooran Gul, whose grandfather shares his and her ordeals.

“She is crippled and dependent upon others for the rest of her life,” said the 57-year-old Rozi Khan, wondering who on earth would accept her in marriage.

Khan, an Afghan refugee residing in Lakhti Banda area of district Hangu, moved to Pakistan when he was 9 and since then has been living in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.



Khan claims Gul was some five months old when she got infected with the crippling virus despite having been inoculated against the poliovirus.

Official record, however, carries all of Gul’s details and reveals that she was one of the constant refusal cases.

“Unfortunately, Gul’s father is a drug addict and lives in France,” said Khan, adding that he had never heard from his son since he left for France.

The family of three – Gul, her brother and mother – were totally dependent upon the 57-year-old.

“I wish she had died rather than being infected by the poliovirus, since she cannot go to the toilet on her own,” Khan told The Express Tribune. “I cannot earn bread properly, but obtained loans for her treatment.”



“Only I can feel the sorrow of her [Gul’s] mother’s pain,” he said, adding that she knows her daughter was crippled for life.

According to officials of anti-polio campaigns, Gul was infected when she was five months old. The family had been constantly refusing anti-polio drops by the teams, adding that poor sanitary conditions in the area were the main reason for transportation of the poliovirus.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2017.