Appeal for help: In need of two surgeries, girl’s parents can’t even afford an injection
Donations only hope for 11-year-old admitted to PIMS.
ISLAMABAD:
For some Rs400,000 is a small amount, but for 11-year-old Umm-e-Habiba, the money could mean the difference between life and death.
Currently admitted in the Children Hospital at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), she is fighting a battle against multiple diseases.
She has been in and out of various hospitals for the past one year. She has been forced to quit school and put her dreams of becoming a doctor on hold.
Habiba has atrial septal defect since birth and is suffering from a serious kidney infection that also requires surgery.
Before her heart surgery, she will need to undergo a kidney operation for which she needs to undergo a test that will cost around Rs3,000.
Twice afflicted with dengue fever, Habiba’s bones have become weak and her memory has been affected. When she contracted dengue fever again this year, she was initially admitted to Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi where she did not get much attention because the doctors were on strike.
On September 4, she was brought to Pims and remained in the intensive care unit for eight days, said Muzaffar Hussain, her father. A resident of Chakwal, he works as a daily-wage labourer and makes Rs200 to Rs400 a day.
“I cannot see her die. I borrowed money from close relatives this past year, but now even that is no longer possible for me,” he said.
While Habiba’s tests within the hospital are funded by zakat, Hussain said he cannot afford medicines or the tests that are to be carried out privately.
“She requires a Tienam injection every second day but she has not had it for the past week. I cannot afford it.”
A single injection costs Rs1,070.
Habiba has big plans for when she gets through her ordeal. “I will become a doctor and provide free treatment to poor people like me.”
The parents have appealed to people to come forward and help them. Their contact numbers are 0312-5735130 and 0334-8735851.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2012.
For some Rs400,000 is a small amount, but for 11-year-old Umm-e-Habiba, the money could mean the difference between life and death.
Currently admitted in the Children Hospital at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), she is fighting a battle against multiple diseases.
She has been in and out of various hospitals for the past one year. She has been forced to quit school and put her dreams of becoming a doctor on hold.
Habiba has atrial septal defect since birth and is suffering from a serious kidney infection that also requires surgery.
Before her heart surgery, she will need to undergo a kidney operation for which she needs to undergo a test that will cost around Rs3,000.
Twice afflicted with dengue fever, Habiba’s bones have become weak and her memory has been affected. When she contracted dengue fever again this year, she was initially admitted to Benazir Bhutto Hospital Rawalpindi where she did not get much attention because the doctors were on strike.
On September 4, she was brought to Pims and remained in the intensive care unit for eight days, said Muzaffar Hussain, her father. A resident of Chakwal, he works as a daily-wage labourer and makes Rs200 to Rs400 a day.
“I cannot see her die. I borrowed money from close relatives this past year, but now even that is no longer possible for me,” he said.
While Habiba’s tests within the hospital are funded by zakat, Hussain said he cannot afford medicines or the tests that are to be carried out privately.
“She requires a Tienam injection every second day but she has not had it for the past week. I cannot afford it.”
A single injection costs Rs1,070.
Habiba has big plans for when she gets through her ordeal. “I will become a doctor and provide free treatment to poor people like me.”
The parents have appealed to people to come forward and help them. Their contact numbers are 0312-5735130 and 0334-8735851.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2012.