BANGALORE, July 23: A Pakistani girl who underwent successful heart surgery in an Indian hospital and emerged as an icon of South Asian peace hopes was reunited with her parents on Wednesday after more than two weeks.

Two-year-old Noor Fatima was moved to a private ward at this southern Indian city’s Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital from the intensive care unit and is on antibiotics and painkillers, a surgeon treating her said.

“She is stabilizing well and now is given both solid and liquid diet,” said Rajesh Sharma, the surgeon who mended holes in the child’s heart.

He said Noor may need another six to eight days for complete recovery.

Noor was brought to Dr Sharma by her parents, who on July 11 took the first bus between India and Pakistan in 18 months.

Noor’s father Nadeem Sajjad said his daughter complained of “terrible pain” on Wednesday, the first full day when Noor’s parents were with her since the operation on July 15.

“The first thing she said was she was in terrible pain, ‘please do not leave me alone this time,’” Sajjad said. “She was feeling lonely and is still scared we will leave her.

“Towards evening she began to realize things were getting back to normal,” Sajjad said. “She kept on saying when she was in pain her parents were not with her.”

Noor suffers from Tetralogy of Fallot, a heart ailment common among children. In the United States, about 3,000 babies are born each year with Tetralogy of Fallot, accounting for 10 percent of all congenital heart defects.

One out of every 140 children born in the world suffers from Noor’s condition, Devi Shetty, chief surgeon and managing director of Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital said.

The bus from Pakistan brought another child patient with a heart ailment to India for treatment on Wednesday.

Eight-and-a-half-year-old Juned Khalid, who has a heart problem since birth, will soon undergo surgery at the Narayana Hrudyalaya Hospital in Bangalore, where Noor Fatima was treated after she came to India on the first bus.

Juned’s parents, Farzana Khalid and Khalid Mehmood said they will be leaving either late on Wednesday or Thursday for the southern Indian city, according to the United News of India.—AFP