Mumbai donates up to Rs 4.5 lakh for treatment of Pakistani teen

Two weeks after Sunday Mid Day published the report -- Large-hearted Mumbai rises for Pak teen on May 17 -- about how Nazia Tarikh Ahmed came to Mumbai from Karachi with only R80,000 to treat her 15-year-old daughter, Saba, who is suffering from Wilson's Disease, Mumbaikars have stepped forward to show their affection.

Nazia and Saba Tarikh Ahmed. (File pic)

The fund's coffers boast R4.5 lakh, thanks to which Nazia can afford to continue the treatment at Jaslok Hopsital.
Dr Abbha Nagral, Liver Specialist and Senior Gastroenterologist at Jaslok Hospital, who is treating Saba, said, "Soon after the article was published, total strangers approached the hospital with donations. We managed to raise R4.5 lakh, which enabled us sustain the medical expense of her treatment," said Nagral, who added that Saba is responding well to medication.

"For the first time in 40 days, she was taken to Haji Ali on a wheelchair on Friday. Though she has her frequent ups and downs, there is an overall positive improvement in her health. However, she still has a long way to go and will require lifelong medication," says Nazia, who is a single parent after her husband remarried and left her and their three children. The doctors in Karachi initially misdiagnosed her daughter's condition and even started an incorrect treatment. "The donors in Mumbai are angels who extended help in our hour of need. Saba was in total depression when we came here, but has become a happier person, in spite of being bedridden. She was very happy to seek blessings at Haji Ali Dargah," said Nazia.

According to Shabia Walia, a social worker from the Bluebells Community, a group of social workers, actor Juhi Chawla has donated R25,000. Another donor, Kersi Dubash, was first among the first to deposit R 1 lakh with the hospital. "I have a textile business in Pakistan and visit the country often. I am just returning the love and affection that I get there," he said.