Committed Hospital and Responsive Citizens give 10-year-old Kashmir girl new lease of life

New Delhi, 23rd July 2018: A 10-year-old from the strife-torn Bandipore district of Kashmir was successfully treated at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in New Delhi. Fatimah, who suffered from a rare liver disease, received support from the hospital, and well-wishers from the internet and beyond, to make the surgery possible. 

Fatimah suffered from autoimmune hepatitis, a disease that affects 1-in-2,00,000 people, which leads to the body’s immune system attacking its own liver cells. She was found to have jaundice in school, and after being evaluated, was diagnosed with chronic liver disease that had progressed into liver failure.

Dr. Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director & Senior Consultant, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Apollo Hospitals said, “The patient was admitted to a hospital in Srinagar for four months with prolonged hospitalizations thrice. Her condition continued to deteriorate with time.”

Dr. Neerav Goyal, Senior Consultant, Liver Transplant and Haepatobiliary, Pancreatic Surgery Department, added, “Her liver had already shrunken and despite therapy bringing about some improvement, the fluid accumulation in her stomach persisted. She remained chronically ill and a new liver was the only option left to save her life.” 

The patient’s father, 48-year-old Syed Hussain, became her liver donor. The 12-hour-long surgery was conducted by a team comprising of Dr Neerav Goyal, Dr. Anupam Sibal, Dr Shishir Parikh, Dr. Arun Venuthuvimilli, Dr. Vaibhav Kumar, Dr. Namit Jerath, Dr. Vidyut Bhatia, Dr. Hitendra Garg and Dr. Smita Malhotra.

Fatimah belongs to a disadvantaged family of laborers, who were unable to afford the cost of the transplant. Relatives and friends came together to support them, and to raise funds for them through social media. The response from kind strangers online was overwhelming, and the funds covered local stay expenses and post-transplant medications. Apollo Hospitals and its doctors waived charges on the surgery and consultations.

Syed Hussain expressed his gratitude, and said, “Today, our little Fatimah has been blessed with a second life, all because of expert and noble hearted doctors at Apollo Hospital and the support of friends, relatives and kind people across the country.”
Fatimah’s liver functioning was tested and found to be normal, and she is ready to go back to her village.