Life was never easy for Gulnaz and her family hailing from Uttrakhand. Her father, Sarfaraaz was a daily wage earner and inspite of resistance from his community; he supported his daughter to pursue higher education.
In 2014, Gulnaz [then 17 years old girl] was about to complete her 12th standard when a young man whose proposal she had rejected threw acid on her. Her parents immediately rushed her to the hospital but cost of treatment was simply unaffordable for them. Her father managed to arrange some help from the CM Relief Fund but that was not enough for the multiple surgeries Gulnaz was required to undergo. Gulnaz remained in hospital for 2 months and it was a testing time for the family.
Once home, Gulnaz filed an FIR and had the culprit behind bars for 10 years. However, she still needed a series of surgeries and approached MAX Hospital in Dehradun. Her request for treatment support was immediately approved by MIF and the surgery was successfully done in Oct 2015. Afterwards, Gulnaz managed to get a scholarship and got enrolled in a college in Chennai.
Back in Uttrakhand, Sarfaraaz’s health was becoming an issue. He was detected with a heart problem and inspite of the doctor’s advice to undergo immediate surgery; he kept delaying it due to lack of funds.
When Gulnaz came home in May 2017 during her summer break, she was appalled to see her father’s deteriorating condition. She again got in touch with MIF for help and given the criticality of the situation the father was admitted at Max Hospital, Patparganj. The surgery was successfully done and her father is much better now.
Gulnaz strives to complete her Graduation and pursue a dignified career. MIF salutes her and is happy to have helped the family to get on its feet.
Inspite of all odds, there is a very high probability of Paras regaining normal hearing ability with aggressive speech therapy for at least 2 years. As Dr. Mrig says, “Paras is a very active child, if his parents and the therapist do good work the results will undoubtedly be very good.”
