Ailing Pakistani girl arrives in India for treatment

Basma arrived in India on Thursday, is set to undergo treatment and surgery

A five-year-old Pakistani girl suffering from multiple disorders has arrived in India for treatment, after a report published about her prompted an overwhelming response.

Basma Mohammad Faisal, due to her multiple disorders, is in need of a liver transplant. Basma's father, Mohammad Faisal Raza, a sales manager, said he has drained all his fortune on the treatment of his daughter during the past few years.



After hundreds of calls from Oman and UAE, some companies and private hospitals as well as his own company offered to help him, after which Raza was finally able to take his daughter to India.

“We are very happy that we are finally able to go to India for her treatment,” Raza said.

Basma boarded an Oman Air flight to Chennai, India, along with her parents, after being discharged from the Royal Hospital on Wednesday.

“We have arranged an ambulance for the little girl and another car for the family to come to the hospital from the airport,” Syed Zia Akhtar, assistant manager, International Patients Assistance Center, Global Health City said, adding that an apartment near the hospital has also been reserved for the family.

“Our liver transplant team has already gone through the reports for the patient. The child has a cirrhotic liver, with high serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). With a background problem in chronic liver disease, along with biliary system issues, it is essential for Basma to undergo a liver transplant operation,” he added.



Basma’s father Raza said the little girl has become very weak in the last one week as she has not been consuming any food. “Let’s hope that she is cured so that we can return to Oman quickly,” he said.

Further, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in response to a Times of Oman tweet, “We have issued a visa for Basma’s surgery in India. We wish her a speedy recovery."

We have issued Visa for Basma's surgery in India. I wish her a speedy recovery. https://t.co/YJymLAx8QC

— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) October 21, 2015

The five-year-old has been incapable of eating food due to a blockage in the passageway connecting her liver to the pancreas.

Raza’s eldest daughter, Asfa Mohammed Faisal was also suffering from liver cirrhosis like Basma, and died in 2004. “At that time also, the doctors had suggested a liver transplant, but we could not afford her treatment and she died,” said Raza.

This article originally appeared on Times of Oman