Award-winning journalist Saima Mohsin opens up about her 'crippling' health issues

Mohsin's foot was crushed in freak accident covering Palestine-Israel conflict which led to nerve damage


Social Desk January 11, 2020
Mohsin's foot was crushed in freak accident while covering the Palestine-Israel conflict leading to nerve damage.PHOTO: FACEBOOK/SAIMA MOHSIN




Leading British-Pakistani journalist Saima Mohsin has opened up about her struggle with nerve issues that has not only restricted her mobility but also forced her to take a break from her illustrious journalistic career.

Mohsin, who has worked for a raft of international news outlets including BBC, ITV as well as being the face of Dawn News during the heydays of English language media in Pakistan, was most recently associated with American broadcaster CNN.

It was on assignment while covering the Palestine-Israel conflict that her cameraman crushed her foot in a freak accident that led to the injury.

"I’ve decide to emerge and step back into the light again. So here goes...I have an invisible disability.You don’t see my pain and nerve condition, you don’t see my symptoms - when I go numb, when I’m distracted by pins and needles or crippled by extreme pain," the reporter posted on her Facebook.

Mohsin went on to say that she did not think her pain and nerve condition would aggravate further, however, it has "spread" and taken its "toll".

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"It’s as though you can draw a line from head to toe down my middle and the entire left side is riddled with these sensations. Including my face and hands and arms, waist," she further added.

The journalist also shared her fears over the public's reaction to her illness, saying: "I am sharing this because I am tired of hiding. Hiding who I am. Now. Today. It feels dishonest. I am tired of running from social media because I fear pity or people thinking I’m an attention seeker or I am no longer cool."

Mohsin said that she wanted to be honest about her struggles, adding that: "This is not a pity post, I'm fine, I am infinitely better off than so so many in this world and eternally grateful for the love and support I have been gifted with friends and family who love and support me.

"I have let go of the ones who don’t. But my current life is not who or what I used to be. I have gone from covering 28 countries to barely being able to sit stand or walk 28 minutes," she wrote.



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