A 13-year-old girl from Pakistan, who suffered a rare muscular rotatory condition underwent a successful surgery in India and has returned to her normal life.
Following an accidental fall from her sister's arms when she was only 10 months old, Afsheen Gul's neck got bent at 90 degrees. According to reports, for 12 years, she spent her life confined to her house in Mithi, in the Sindh province of Pakistan. The youngest of seven siblings, she never went to school or played with her friends.
Her parents took her to various doctors but in vain.
"She could not walk, eat or talk. She used to just lie on the ground and we used to help her with everything," Afsheen's mother Jamilan Bibi, was quoted as saying by the BBC, adding that they could not afford further treatment.
Afsheen Gul suffered from atlanto-axial rotatory dislocation, a rotation of the spine which causes neck impairment. Afsheen also suffers from cerebral palsy and learned to walk and speak very later in her life, which further pushed her behind from other children of her age.
But her life changed when they received a call from “an angel”- Dr Rajagopalan Krishnan, a specialist of complex spinal surgeries at the Apollo Hospital in Delhi, who offered to do her surgery free of charge.
The four months that have passed have seen Afsheen walk, talk, and eat on her own.
"This is probably the first case of its kind in the world," Dr Krishnan said, according to the report.
Dr. Krishnan revealed that her wounds have healed and has been keeping tabs on her via Skype every week.
"She is a little weak - and is still unable to go to school - but the doctor says that will get better with time," Afsheen's brother Yaqoob Qumbar says.
"We are so happy - the doctor saved my sister's life. For us he is an angel," Mr Qumbar says.
Her condition caught the media attention in 2017, when an article published her story. A fundraiser was also created by an organisation from the US to afford her surgery.
Her condition gained worldwide attention in 2017, when an article on a news website spotlighted her story.
Prominent Pakistani actor Ahsan Khan shared a photo of Afsheen on Facebook, urging people to help, while Afsheen's mother was invited to a popular morning show hosted by Sanam Baloch. An online fundraiser was also created by an organiser in the US to help her family afford surgery. The same year, Naz Baloch, an MP from the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP), tweeted that the Sindh government would provide complete treatment to Afsheen.
In February 2018, Afsheen was hospitalized at Pakistan's biggest private hospital, Agha Khan University Hospital in Karachi where the doctors said they would operate on her, but gave her a “50% chance of survival”, said Qumbar.
The parents took Afsheen home after seeking time to consider it with the doctors. "But we got busy with my sister's wedding and her treatment could not be completed," her brother says. However the family was highly disappointed with the lack of response from the government officials to resume Afsheen’s treatment.
Afsheen was back in the news in 2019 when a British journalist, Alexandria Thomas, reported on her condition and her family's financial position.
Thomas also put the family in touch with Dr Krishnan in Delhi, who spoke to Qumbar and told him that he was willing to help Afsheen.
The family applied for a visa on medical grounds and arrived in India in November last year. An independent childcare organisation, Darul Sukoon, helped them with the process.
It was an extremely difficult time for Afsheen and her family, Mr Kumbar recalls: "Dr Krishnan told us that her heart or lungs may stop beating during the operation."
But he gave the family hope. Qumbar says he had been in contact with several doctors during this period, but no one was as "sensitive and kind " as him.
"Due to his efforts and supervision the operation was successful," he adds.
Afsheen underwent two major surgeries before the main neck surgery, which was followed by another major operation.
The main surgery took place in February. Dr Krishan told the BBC that he and his team attached Afsheen's skull to her spinal cord during a six-hour operation. The skull was then attached to the cervical spine using a stick and screws to keep the neck straight.
After the surgery was successful, Dr Krishnan told reporters that Afsheen would not have lived for long without treatment. But she is now "smiling and talking", Mr Qumbar said in July when he posted a picture of his smiling sister on Facebook a day before Eid. There are some complications though - she's still slower than other children, many of whom often judge her for that, her brother says.