Man asks KP govt to send his ailing son abroad for treatment

PESHAWAR: The father of a teenager who was critically injured in a blast has asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to honour its commitment by sending his son abroad for treatment in the light of the recommendation of the medical board.

Talking to The News, Muhammad Raza, father of Salman Afridi, said he was still waiting for the provincial government’s response to the recommendation of the medical board.

The medical board was constituted on the directives of Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. It recommended that Salman Afridi, who was injured in the blast in Badaber on June 30, 2013, should be sent abroad for treatment as he could not be properly treated in Pakistan.

Salman Afridi sustained injuries in the roadside bomb blast targeting the convoy of the Frontier Corps in Badaber. Some 17 persons, including four children, were killed and several wounded in the explosion.

Muhammad Raza said Salman Afridi was on a tracheotomy tube for two and a half years. “I cannot afford to get my son treated even in the country let alone taking him abroad,” Muhammad Raza added.  “My son’s trachea was damaged in the blast. He can neither speak nor eat food or drink water,” he said.

“The doctors had told me that Salman would not survive, but thanks to Allah Almighty that he is still alive and can fully recover if he is properly treated,” said the father of the 18-year old boy.

He said the Health Department had informed him that the government had banned sending patients abroad for treatment.He said provincial Minister for Health Shahram Tarakai had told him that in light of the recommendation of the medical board, the chief minister could take a final decision.

He asserted that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Health Minister Shahram Khan Tarakai had assured him of treatment of his son.