Pak toddler gets a new lease of life at Aster Hospital in India

KOZHIKODE: Two-year-old Saif Jalal from Pakistan, who was battling a rare Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) condition, got a new lease of life after he underwent a free bone marrow transplant (BMT) at Aster MIMS hospital in Kozhikode.

Saif, son of Pakistani national Jalal who was working as taxi driver in Dubai, and Sadoori was brought to the hospital after his doctors in Dubai said that chances of his survival were slim. He managed to get a visa to India following the intervention of Union MoS (foreign affairs) V Muraleedharan.

"The condition of Saif was serious as he had a lot of complications; he had a lung infection and he also was on oxygen support for the last one-and-a-half years. The only treatment option for SCID was a bone marrow transplant. The child's mother was found to be a full match.
Though it was a high-risk transplant with a 50% mortality chance and the kid had to be kept on high flow nasal cannula oxygen support," said senior consultant Dr Keshavan R, who is a paediatric haematologist at the hospital and was part of the team.

The kid is recovering well after the transplant held two month ago and hasn't required oxygen support during the past three weeks.
"The most important thing is that the child has started feeding. He has started liking food which he has not tasted for one-and-a-half years because of severe respiratory distress. We are planning to send him to the UAE next month. From there he would go to Pakistan," he said.
Clinical haematologist and adult bone marrow transplant physician Dr Sudeep V said the hospital has conducted 75 bone marrow transplants over the past two years for patients aged between six months and 58 years.

Regional director, Aster Kerala and Oman, Dr Farhan Yassin said the treatment cost of the kid, which amounted to around Rs 25 lakh, were raised by Aster DM and MIMS charitable trust with the support of Sharjah Charity Organization.

Jalal said he was very happy that the child could be saved and thanked the hospital, doctors and nurses for bringing him back to life. "At Dubai, I was given three treatment options, at Turkey, Italy and India and we were told there was only a 25% survival chance. I chose India as we can communicate with doctors in our language. The child got good treatment and by God's grace he was saved," he said.