She is lying there in the dark as death creeps up on her

Islamabad : There is a young lady, Ms Rabia Sarfraz, hardly 23 years old. She has lost her father when she was still a child back in 2002 and is living with her mother in Lahore. She managed to do her B.Com and found a job in a bank, earning a meagre salary of Rs30,000 per month. She was the lone breadwinner for her family of four, including mother and two brothers.

Some time back she developed some health issues and went to see the doctor in a hospital. Apparently there was a very bad case of erroneous diagnostic. She underwent surgery for removal of fibroids and was discharged with the recommendation that she still need to have another surgery.

The poor girl returned to her job in the bank on expiry of her medical leave after 15 days but was too malnourished and too weak to take the pressure of work and crashed to the floor, fainted. The people in the bank called her mother, who came and took her home.

The bank was not too eager to help the young lady, who has yet not completed one year service and thus was not eligible to any medical allowance or more medical leave. She was shown the door. The family lost their livelihood!

On the other hand the illness continued to nag her. She again went to the hospital for further treatment and received the shock of her life when she was told that she has developed carcinoma (cancer) and need to immediately get the rest of her ovary removed to prevent it from spreading further into her body.

She rushed to the Shaukat Khanam Cancer Hospital, hoping to get free treatment. However, the hospital management told her that as she has already undergone surgery in some other hospital, they cannot accommodate her as a ‘deserving patient’ for free treatment.

“We can accommodate you as the private patient and the cost of the surgery and treatment would be around Rs1.6 million,” the Shaukat Khanam Cancer Hospital management told her. In utter desperation her mother approached different sources but none was able to help raise such a huge amount for her daughter’s treatment.

She has lost her job already. The family has no source of income even for a day’s meal. They have only two cots in the house and a few utensils in the kitchen. They are too proud to go out begging. The people in the locality around them some time help them, which they accept ashamedly.

And this young lady, the only source of earning for the whole family, who has already undergone a surgery, is lying on a cot out there in a darkened room, suffering in pain and waiting for a slow, painful death in front of her old mother and two younger brothers.

Anybody who may wish to help this poor girl can reach her on cell phone number 0300-9590623 and meet her and the family and check her medical reports and physical condition. We wonder if there would be anybody out there to help them!