Hospital gives new life to 350th Pakistani liver transplant patient

Sixteen-year-old Madiha Tariq has walked into the record books by becoming the 350th Pakistani national to undergo a liver transplant at New Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. She was operated on February 3. HT reports.

Sixteen-year-old Madiha Tariq has walked into the record books by becoming the 350th Pakistani national to undergo a liver transplant at New Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. She was operated on February 3.

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It took less than a day to complete all necessary formalities - including government clearance and obtaining visa - and bring Tariq to the hospital, where she was operated on within the next 48 hours.

Incidentally, Tariq, a Class XI student of Lahore Grammar School, is also the first Pakistani national, to have been air-lifted to the hospital on a ventilator and in a state of coma. Doctors said she was diagnosed with Hepatitis A in January this year, and while she was undergoing treatment for it, her condition deteriorated forcing her kin to admit her in the intensive care unit of a local hospital in Lahore.

"Doctors there told us she was critical and needed an immediate liver transplant. They suggested a few names, but we opted for India because visa and other clearances are obtained much quicker here," said Rizwan Tariq, 25, her elder brother who donated part of his liver for the transplant.