KARACHI: “My child has been suffering from a dangerous disease, which still needs to be properly diagnosed, for the past four years. His treatment can be done at the Aga Khan Hospital for which between Rs1.5million and Rs2m is needed. I request the government of Sindh and the affluent people of Karachi to help me.”

This was said by a Mardan resident, Khalid Khan, at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Friday.

Mr Khan said his eight-year-old son, Afaq Ahmed, who was sitting to his right at the presser, was suffering from a disease which he suspected had to do with the brain.

He said the child’s body was weakening by the day and doctors said if his hands and feet were not treated soon, it could disable him for life. He said he had visited many hospitals in Mardan, but to no avail. They told him, he said, that the boy could be taken care of in Karachi. He said the Aga Khan Hospital would be able to help his ailing son but for that Rs1.5m to Rs2m was required. He said during the child’s treatment in Mardan, he spent a lot of money and even had to sell his house, therefore now he couldn’t arrange such a big amount.

He appealed to the government of Sindh and affluent people living in the province to help him.

When asked why he could not found aid or help in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where parties such as the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf held sway and many well-to-do individuals lived, Mr Khan said he had gone to his local MPA and MNA, but they did not give him ‘time’.

He said a TV channel did a story on the issue, but did not follow it up.

On the question of hospitals in KP, he said they did not have proper facilities for the kind of disease his son was suffering from. He said he had three more children and right now was focused on Afaq. He said he had been a driver for a private company but once he got busy with the sick son, he left the job. He said he now worked in his village on daily wages.

He said he was told by people in Mardan that he should go to Karachi because it’s a big city and people there were helpful.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2016