“We thought she had a simple cold that would eventually get better. We had no idea she could lose her eyesight”
Two months back, Nafeez took his 4-year-old daughter, Fatima to the doctors because she had a stubborn cold. She actually had an infection in her brain and sinuses. Fatima soon lost vision in her left eye and was in constant pain. Her condition got worse and her right side became paralyzed. She was transferred to Narayana Hrudayalaya, Mumbai and had an emergency surgery to stave off further infection.
Fatima can't see from her left eye and is paralysed in her right side because of a sinus infection
A cold that turned out to be a more sinister infection
Fatima lives with her parents in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. Her perfectly normal life turned upside down for her and her family last November. What started as a simple cold, became an infection that could claim Fatima’s eyesight and life.Fatima cold wouldn't get better despite taking strong medication. When she developed what looked like an alarming eye infection, her father Nafees took her to the hospital immediately. The doctors ran tests and told her parents that Fatima had an infection in her sinuses that was spreading fast.
Fatima with her mother before she became sick
No one imagined her condition would worsen this way. Her sinus infection affected both her eyes and her brain. Her condition got so serious that, she has can't see in her left eye. She has had two surgeries to remove infected tissue from her eyes, so her sight in the other eye could be saved. Fatima experiences insufferable pain and discomfort in her head and needs constant intensive medical attention to get better.
Fatima’s misery doesn’t end there. The infection in her brain has left her partially paralysed. Over the last two months, a team of doctors at Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore, have been trying to restore sensation and functionality to her limbs. They have made progress with restoring her right arm, but her right leg is still paralysed.
She’s currently being closely monitored and treated by a multidisciplinary medical team consisting of ENT specialists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, ophthalmologists, and pediatricians. For a little girl of 4 and her family, such treatment is both mentally and physically taxing.
Little Fatima is the light of her family and her father is doing everything he can to save her
Misfortune came for the Shaikh family in ways other than just Fatima’s illness
Shortly after Fatima’s diagnosis came through, Nafeez’s wife, Yasmeen, fell sick with Tuberculosis. She’s in a bad state, taking medication for her condition and worrying over her daughter. Now Nafeez has to look after both, his ailing wife and sick daughter. He earns his living by selling water bottles at railway stations. He makes a meager Rs 4,000 a month and has no means to afford the expensive treatment for his family.
Fatima laughing at her parents' joke - a rare, light moment in a life full of pain
So far Fatima’s treatment has come up to Rs 8 lakhs. Nafeez borrowed some of this money from his close friends and relatives. But those resources have run out and he’s at a loss of means to afford the much-needed treatment for his daughter so that she doesn’t lose her eyesight and her limbs. Despite being so seriously ill, little Fatima continues to be a positive soul, smiling through the pain, not understanding the severity of her situation. The only way to save Fatima is by providing her the intensive medical care she needs, to recover. Let Nafeez’s poverty not take away this little girl’s life and health.
Let’s contribute to making a healthy and happy life, a reality for Fatima.
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Specifics of this campaign have been verified with the concerned hospital. For more details, please contact the campaign organizer or the hospital.
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