Cross-border care

How a teenage Pakistani girl found hope and a new heart in India

- Lakshmi Subramanian

It began in 2009. Four-year-old Ayesha Rashan was gasping for air. Her panicked teachers called her mother, Sanober. She took her back home, hoping her daughter's condition would improve with rest. It did not. So, in the evening, Sanober rushed Ayesha to the doctor in her locality in Karachi. The doctor prescribed medication that eased Ayesha’s breathlessness.

Sanober, a single mother, was relieved and convinced herself that the episode was just a temporary health issue and that her little girl would be fine soon. After finishing the medicine's course, Ayesha went back to school. But, before long, she was back in the sick room. Another visit to the doctor followed. Medication provided temporary relief. Ayesha was back in school. And, then, back in the sick room. The relentless cycle repeated.

Slowly, Sanober realised that those grim calls from the school were becoming more frequent. And, she noticed that Ayesha's breathlessness seemed to be getting worse, despite multiple visits to the doctor. But she just did not know what to do to make things better for her daughter.

One day, when she was at the school in response to yet another call from the teachers, the school doctor suggested that she take Ayesha to a cardiologist. And, at long last, there was a proper diagnosis—cardiomyopathy (a disease of the heart muscle that makes it more difficult for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body). However, according to Sanober, the cardiologist said there would be no treatment available in Pakistan. He prescribed medication for six months, but also warned Sanober that the condition was life threatening.