Neck Bent At 90 Degrees, Indian Doc Saves Pak Girl’s Life, Treats Her Successfully For Free

Nothing can be more painful than a child being robbed of their childhood. While for most children attending school, playing with their friends, pets or stuffed toys seems normal, life was difficult and a bit different for 13-year-old Afsheen Gul, a teenager from Pakistan's Sindh province.

Afsheen was 10 months old when life took a tragic turn and she met with an accident. She slipped from her sister's arms, which left her neck bent at 90 degrees. Repeated visits to doctors did nothing to make her condition better and with time the pain became unbearable and financial stability was something that Afsheen's family has always struggled with. Therefore, spending money on further treatment seemed like a distant dream for her family, reports BBC.

Apart from that, she also suffers from Cerebral Palsy, a medical condition, usually caused by brain damage before or at birth, that causes the loss of control of the arms and legs. This made her situation only worse and due to this she always struggled with her academics. Due to her condition, she was constantly pushed behind by the other kids of her age. She learned to walk at the age of six, and she spoke for the first time when she was eight.

It seemed like a miracle that she endured and survived the pain for twelve long years. During these years, Afsheen was confined to her home in Mithi, which is about 300 km away from Karachi. But, what she was not aware of is that her life was going to change for the better.

This year in March, an Indian doctor from Delhi, Dr Rajagopalan Krishnan, Apollo Hospitals, successfully operated on her curved neck and that too free of cost. In an interview with BBC, he said, 'This is probably the first case of its kind in the world.' it was through a British journalist, Alexandria Thomas, that Afsheen and her family got in touch with the doctor.

Her family is extremely grateful to the doctor for the treatment. Also, the family travelled to India to get Afsheen treated. Through an online fundraiser, they got the necessary fund to cover their medical expenses.

Afsheen had to go through four critical surgeries so that her neck could be better. But, the main surgery took place in February, which took six hours to complete. Afsheen's brother, Yaqoob Kumar told BBC that the doctor said her lungs or heart may stop beating during the operation. 'Due to his efforts and supervision, the operation was successful,' he added.

Post-surgery, Dr Krishnan told the press that without the proper treatment, she wouldn't have survived for long, but now she is smiling and talking, mentioned the report. He keeps a track of her improvement via Skype, every week.

Image source: Instagram/Afsheen Gul