Aarifa Karim: Child prodigy refuses to give up, shows improvement

Father says family looking to move her to the US for better treatment.

LAHORE: As Pakistan’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional Aarifa Karim Randhawa begins showing signs of improvement, her parents admit they are looking for assistance to move her to the US for better treatment.

Aarifa’s father Amjad Karim Randhawa, a retired lieutenant colonel, told The Express Tribune that the 16-year-old who has been battling for her life at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Lahore recently responded to certain stimuli. Aarifa, he said, had shown the Plantar Reflex when her foot was stimulated. “Her toes curved slightly downward when her foot was tickled,” he said, adding that earlier she had exhibited the Corneal Reflex, whereby her eyes blinked a few times.

Randhawa said that over the past four days, they had observed minor improvements in Aarifa’s condition but until medically endorsed, they could not be registered as a major improvement. However, he added, the doctors have implied that the signs are encouraging.

But Aarifa’s fight for life is still in its preliminary stages and her parents are now looking to move her to a better-equipped intensive care unit in the US.

“We need to ensure that Aarifa does not contract some kind of infection. Doctors at CMH are tending to minor infections that she contracted recently, but the odds of developing them again are great,” Randhawa explained. “We do not want to let the progress she’s made go to waste. We want to be careful.”

When asked if doctors at the CMH had approved of moving her to another medical facility, Randhawa said that they would if there were a possibility of improved care elsewhere. “At the moment, we are only seeking a facility where intensive care will be better equipped to cater to her needs.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2012.