Abdul Rahman walks again
When Abdul Rahman, a 5-year-old boy from rural Ghor province, started having difficulty walking, his parents began to take him to all the doctors and medical clinics in the province. No one was able to explain to the worried parents what was happening to their son, and his health continued to worsen until, according to his father, the young boy was “as immobile as a tree”.
Finally an international medical clinic in Ghor referred Abdul Rahman’s case to the FMIC, and he was brought to Kabul to begin a thorough round of diagnostic tests, to include laboratory tests of blood and tissue samples, a CT scan, and a radiological examination. The examination revealed the condition to be spine tuberculosis, a medical condition that is unfamiliar to most Afghan doctors but well-understood by the FMIC’s medical team.
Watch Abdul Rahman's recovery journey
While non-invasive treatment options were attempted, after three weeks the decision was made to perform surgery in order to save the child from complete paralysis. According to Dr Mirza Mohammad Nijrabi, one of the FMIC’s orthopaedic surgeons, “the frequency of spine tuberculosis in Afghanistan is still very high, and there is no other medical centre besides the FMIC to perform this type of surgery.”
Recovery following the surgery was swift; after three weeks Abdul Rahman was able to stand by himself, and by week 12 his recovery was complete. His ability to walk was fully restored, without any pain or discomfort.
Considering the low income of Abdul Rahman’s family, the young boy was eligible for full subsidized treatment through the FMIC’s Patient Welfare Support programme. All costs related to the treatment were covered by the FMIC and Chain of Hope (a French charity and founding partner of the hospital).
