Doctors recommend Mehzar’s treatment abroad

Karachi

When she was brought in 39 days back, the doctors had given up on her - she would spend her life on a ventilator, they had said.

Today, 12-year-old Mehzar is just out of a strenuous physiotherapy session. She is trying to walk again. But her doctors recommend that she be taken abroad for further treatment.

On November 30, Syeda Mehzar and her father Syed Nazar Abbas Zaidi were driving to school when they were shot by unidentified men.

The father expired, while Mehzar survived, with two ruptured lungs, a spinal cord injury, and a fractured wrist. The family maintains that this attack was sectarian in nature and the police second it.

Dr Gohar Javed, a neurosurgeon at the Aga Khan University Hospital who specialises in spinal cord injuries, has referred her to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the United Kingdom for further treatment.

This is the same hospital where Malala Yousufzai, who was shot by the Taliban for promoting girls’ education, was treated.

“She has a spinal cord injury and the patient is being referred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for further management,” said Dr Javed, who has been dealing with the case since day one.

Another doctor overseeing Mehzar, Dr Muhammad Arif Mateen Khan, the head of pediatric surgery at Aga Khan University Hospital, says she is “stable and recovering from wounds”.

“From a medical point of view, she can travel abroad,” he maintained.

The family has been demanding for some time that she be taken abroad for treatment. On their persistence, a team of doctors from the Governor’s House visited her and declared that she was unfit to travel.

The Governor’s House spokesperson was not available to comment on the matter.

Though Mehzar is showing improvement, the family believes her rehabilitation will be speedy abroad. More importantly, there will be no threats. The family is still reeling from the shock of the death of a loved one and almost losing another one at the hands of terrorists who they feel may target her again.

“Malala is just like my daughter. I feel her pain. The terrorists who did this to my daughter are the same who stopped Malala from going to school,” said the mother with a faint smile.

“I appeal to the government to give my daughter the best treatment; she is a survivor, do not let her fight for life go in vain.”

Posted in: Karachi News