Indian hospital offers free heart transplant to Pakistan's hockey legend

Fortis Group of Hospitals has offered to register Mansoor Ahmed for the surgery


News Desk April 27, 2018
Fortis Group of Hospitals has offered to register Mansoor Ahmed for the transplant. PHOTO: AFP/FILE

A private hospital in India has offered to perform a free of cost heart transplant surgery to Pakistan’s World Cup winning hockey goalkeeper Mansoor Ahmed.

Fortis Group of Hospitals has offered to register him for the transplant less than a week after the 49-year-old legend made an appeal to the Indian government to grant him visa on medical grounds, The Times of India reported.

Ahmed has been a sporting icon in Pakistan since helping the country wins the 1994 World Cup in Sydney with his penalty stroke push against the Netherlands in the final.

“I may have broken a lot of Indian hearts on the field of play by beating India in the Indira Gandhi Cup (1989) and in other events but that was sport … now I need a heart transplant in India and for that I need support from the Indian government,” he said in an interview earlier this week.

Pakistan’s hockey World Cup winner looking towards India for heart transplant

Ahmed — who played 338 international matches, participated in three Olympics and various other high-profile events in a career spanning from 1986 to 2000 — said the visa could be a lifesaver.

“Humanity is paramount and I too would be obliged if I get a visa and other help in India,” said Ahmed.

Ahmed has already made it clear that he was not looking for financial assistance and all he wanted was an Indian visa on medical grounds after his doctor, Choudhry Pervez, advised him to seek treatment in the neighbouring country.

“Once he gets a clearance from the government, we can get an assessment done to confirm whether he is fit enough to travel,” Dr S Narayani, zonal director Fortis Mumbai told an Indian media outlet.

Many Indian athletes including hockey greats have shown their support for the Pakistani legend’s medical treatment in India. Former India captain V Baskaran was quoted as saying that everyone concerned “needed to act fast”.

Ahmed would have to brace for a long wait even if he is granted a medical visa, as a heart can be donated to a foreign national only when there are no Indians on the waiting list.

COMMENTS (11)

Taxzu | 5 years ago | Reply NICVD has announced that they will treat him free of cost. NICVD Karachi is one of best institute in south Asia.
Adeel Ahmad Khan | 5 years ago | Reply May Allah also have mercy on Indian Kashmiris, on the embroiled people of North East, the harijans all over India, the other depressed castes and tribes, the women who are routinely raped, the hundreds of millions of the desperately poor, the minorities, the Naxalites and other exploited people, those forced to defecate outside and suffered other indignities, the few remaining progressives and the enlightened - May Allah save them from the hegemony of the Indian State and the bigotry of the Brahmin. Amen
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