For 12 years, Afsheen Gul lived with her neck bent at a 90-degree angle.
She was 10 months old when she fell from her sister’s arms. From then on, the youngest of seven siblings did not go to school or play with other children. She learned to walk at six and to talk at eight. Her mother, Jamilan Bibi, recalls that she could barely move: the family helped her with everything. And there was no money for further treatment.
Her world fit inside a house in Mithi, Pakistan, 300 kilometers from Karachi.
In 2017, her story reached the press and the promises began. In 2018, a hospital in Karachi gave her a 50% chance of surviving the operation. Her parents asked for time to think it over and took her home.
Then a British journalist put her in touch with Dr. Rajagopalan Krishnan of Apollo Hospital in Delhi. He said yes, without charging a fee. He warned the family that her heart or lungs could stop during surgery.
They crossed the border anyway.
The main surgery lasted six hours. They joined her skull to her spine with a rod and screws to keep her neck straight.
Four months later, Afsheen walks, talks, and eats on her own. She still attends physiotherapy sessions and has regular medical consultations by video call, but each day she lives her life more normally. She became a content creator with more than 300,000 followers, with whom she shares her traditional outfits, makeup tutorials, outdoor walks, and messages of faith.
Sometimes the feat isn’t an operation. It’s someone saying yes when everyone said no. 💛
