(In)action: Funds dry up, as Khadija’s condition deteriorates

15 year-old requires amputation after being shuttled from one hospital to another.

RAWALPINDI:

In a one-bedroom house in Dheri Hassanabad, a young girl, Khadija, lies on an unclean bed while doctors debate on which of her legs to amputate while her mother painfully looks on.

“My husband abandoned me and our six children when he married another woman. I have been working as a maid in various houses to feed my children (of which two are married),” said the 55-year-old Hajira.

She lacks the monetary stability to meet the growing expenses for her 15-year-old daughter’s medical care and has spent over Rs200,000 during the course of the past five months for the cause. Majority of this money was generated through personal loans. Meanwhile, to help make ends meet, she has also asked her 18-year-old daughter to work as a maid especially in light of the increasing day-to-day household expenditure coupled with her daughters treatment.

Doctors at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) where Khadija is being treated have advised for the amputation of her right leg which is the source of bone infection. Left untreated, it could spread and may lead to amputation of other limbs. But, “we are unable to finance the operation,” said Hajira who added that while waiting on medical treatment, Khadija’s right leg, already weak and unable to sustain much weight, broke making surgery more imminent.

Khadija was perfectly healthy before succumbing to a high-fever during Ramazan and has since been bed-ridden. She was first taken to Benazir Bhutto Hospital but after disappointing care from doctors there she was taken to CMH. However, unable to bear cost of the treatment at CMH, she was relocated once again, this time to Fauji Foundation Hospital.

Aside from bearing the medical costs and now the cost of amputation, for which she has exhausted the kindness of strangers in loans, doctors have also cautioned her about the amount of blood that will be required for the operation. Khadija’s blood group is A-Positive and there are no donors, aside from her young son who is too young to help.

The resilient mother is not left with much support now but she still wants to provide for her daughter. With the hope of seeing Khadija in a better condition, she now requests the general public to assist her.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2012.