International Women’s Day: Wheelchair-bound, Lozina ‘walks taller’ than able-bodied persons

Working as director at govt office and looking after ailing mother, she did a PhD in Information Technology

ISLAMABAD: In a conservative society like Pakistan where even able-bodied women have to deal with several problems in carrying out day-to-day work, a wheelchair-bound lady has shown great courage and resilience in fighting the daunting challenges that life threw at her.

Lozina Shoaib was once completely dependent on her mother as she has been suffering from Multiple Congenital Contractures (MCC), osteoporosis, rheumatic arthritis and cardiac problems since her childhood. Being a patient with walking impairment, she could not move a bit without her mother’s support.

But as time went by, Lozina, the only child of her parents, became an embodiment of courage and bravery when her widow mother was in need of a helping hand.

“For me she is God’s blessing and equal to ten sons,” said Lozina’s mother, Fauzia Shoab, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in June, 2015.



“My wheelchair-bound daughter took great care of me; more than an able-bodied person would do,” said the mother, whose daughter is now 39 years old.

“I never saw my daughter letting her disability get in the way to thrive for the best. I truly feel proud of her,” said Fauzia Shoab, who is under treatment at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore.  After every twenty days, Lozina takes her mother to Lahore from Rawalpindi for follow-up checkups.

Throughout her mother’s treatment, Lozina also continued her job at a government office and also completed her PhD in Information Technology.

Though doctors do not have a high hope that the mother would be completely cured of her illness, Lozina wishes to see her mother as a breast cancer survivor.



“The moment my mother told me about her disease, I felt like my world fell apart,” said Lozina, while talking to The Express Tribune on the eve of International Women’s Day which is celebrated across the globe on March 8 (today) every year to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women. It’s a day when people across the world acknowledges and pay tribute to their matchless and tireless efforts for their families, community and to world.

For Lozina her mother is also her best friend. The mother and daughter had suffered the biggest loss of the life when Lozina’s father Major retired Shoaib was martyred in a terrorist attack while offering Friday prayers in Parade Lane, Rawalpindi, on December 4, 2009.

Lozina, who is currently working as a director at a government organisation, is among those courageous women of Pakistan who are putting all efforts to smash disability and gender stereotypes.   Till date, she has undergone 22 major surgeries including Spinal Fusion, and has nine more in store that are, regrettably, not possible in Pakistan.