Saif Ali Khan's sister Saba Pataudi recalls feeling shattered after brain tumour diagnosis at 27: ‘Your life suddenly goes numb’

Saba Pataudi recalled how she started becoming very uncomfortable on that day and suddenly blanked out on the road. That's when she knew she was not okay.

Saba Pataudi, sister of actor Saif Ali Khan, opened up about being diagnosed with a brain tumour when she was 27 and going under the knife in 2006. It was in the latest episode of Soha Ali Khan's All About Her podcast, where she invited her sister Saba Ali Khan and Dr Mazda Turel to talk about brain tumours and what constitutes a healthy brain. Saba opened up about the day she fainted and what happened next that led to her diagnosis.

Saba Pataudi has opened up about a major health scare.

What Saba shared

Recalling the exact moment when she felt something was off, Saba said, “It happened very suddenly. I didn’t have any pre-symptoms or any conditions that I think led up to it. One day, I went out and thought the problem was with my stomach, which has always been a sensitive point for me. I thought I had eaten or drunk something that hadn’t agreed with me. I suddenly fainted. I could feel myself becoming very uncomfortable, so I turned to a friend and said, ‘I don’t think I’m quite okay. Maybe we should head home.’ We were about to go out, but suddenly everything went blank. When I regained consciousness, I had already fallen on the road, just outside the building. I turned to my friend again and said that we had to head back because I definitely wasn’t okay. It took me about 20 to 25 minutes to feel more conscious. Even then, I was still a little hazy, and my awareness hadn’t completely settled.”

Immediately, Saba went for an MRI, and the doctors found a shadow in the third ventricle of her brain. She was diagnosed with a colloid cyst, a rare but non-cancerous growth filled with gelatinous fluid. Saba said that she underwent surgery around six months after the MRI. It was identified as a pilocytic astrocytoma, a type of brain tumour generally classified as low-grade.

‘I would suddenly find myself crying’

“It was something completely unexpected that happened to me at the age of 27, without any warning. Your life suddenly goes numb because nothing feels normal after that. One day, you’re fine, and the next day, you’re told that you’re going to have brain surgery. It’s not something as simple as having your appendix removed. It shatters you in a way, but it also empowers you because you have to deal with it. I would suddenly find myself crying without knowing why. You are trying to process news that you never expected to receive. What happened to me came with absolutely no warning,” she added.

In May this year, Saba Pataudi celebrated her 50th birthday with family, sharing heartfelt gratitude for their love and thoughtful gifts in a series of social media post.