Afsheen Gul was playing outside when she fell about 13 years ago, and she has been in continual pain since. Gul's parents were able to pay for a $31,000 miracle procedure at the Apollo Hospital in New Delhi owing to a GoFundMe fundraising drive.
13-Year-Old Who Had Head Stuck At 90-Degree Angle Gets Life-Changing Surgery
By
Haider Ali in
Feel Good
On 20th March 2022
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This 13-year-old from Pakistan had a life-altering surgery to straighten her neck from a rare muscle disorder due to which her head was tilted to a 90-degree angle.
It is reported that Afsheen Gul suffered from a problem that resulted in her developing a significantly twisted neck, a condition known as Atlanto-Axial Rotatory Dislocation (AARD) in medical terms.
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afsheengul786/Instagram
Gul suffered from cerebral palsy after she got her neck injured while she was playing.
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Her inability to rotate her neck resulted in a struggle with eating, using the washroom, and walking.
She couldn't go to school due to a rare condition.
afsheengul786/Instagram
This young girl then underwent a life-changing surgery at Apollo Hospital, New Delhi with the help of the funds raised on a GoFundMe page.
The surgery was successful, and she will go back to India for a follow-up in March.
When Gul was young her parents thought that her condition will go away with time but it didn't get better and because her family couldn't afford her medical treatment they turned to a faith healer for help.
Her situation was eventually brought to the notice of the public by a newspaper piece about her illness, which prompted the creation of a GoFundMe campaign to seek funds for her operation.
Despite this, the Apollo medical team estimated that Gul had a 50% chance of surviving the procedure.
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afsheengul786/Instagram
Dr. Rajagopalan Krishnan, who worked for the NHS for 15 years before returning to India, said:
“Her brother Yaqoob got in touch with me after seeing a documentary I had done where I had successfully operated on a boy with a similar condition.”
"I was certain I could improve her quality of life but I had to see her first. If we left it any longer the chances of her recovering from any surgery were slim”.
The coronavirus pandemic delayed Gul's surgery, but it was finally completed last week.
afsheengul786/Instagram
Her head still needs to be supported by a HALO cradle, but Gul can straighten her neck for the first time in her life.
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After the surgery, Gul wrote on Instagram:
“Thank you Dr. Rajagopalan Krishnan for giving me a new life”.