Saim’s Journey: Overcoming Bone Cancer at Indus Hospital

Saim’s biggest match of life!

On one pleasant Saturday morning, seventeen-year-old Saim was preparing for a football match when severe back pain caused him to collapse. His coach sent him home to rest. When Saim’s father, Murtaza, found him in bed, he learned about the pain and noticed a lump on Saim’s body. They rushed to a nearby hospital, where after hours of waiting, a doctor recommended a biopsy that wasn’t available there. Murtaza quickly gathered his savings and went to another hospital for the costly procedure.

Their lives changed drastically when doctors diagnosed Saim with bone cancer. Murtaza urgently requested admission and treatment, but the hospital insisted on a large advance payment before proceeding with treatment.

“My whole world crashed, my wife and I started calling family to help us financially through loans. It was then a relative recommended us to take Saim to Indus Hospital. At first, we feared that there again they would conduct a number of tests and hand us a long bill. But since the hospital we were at was not willing to admit till we deposit the amount, my wife and I with a broken heart took a risk and brought our son to Indus.” Murtaza said with tears in his eyes.

The team at Indus immediately admitted Saim and started the treatment. Although Saim was older than the age limit of pediatric oncology patients, the Indus team extended their arms as they knew if the treatment was not given to Saim, he may be crippled for life. “The news of cancer shattered my dreams to be an army officer. Seeing my parents in despair, I always wondered why life has put us through this test. On the darkest days of my treatment, the counselors, doctors, nurses, the housekeeping staff, and the other little children in the ward, never let me lose hope. Many children in the ward around me were such a great source of inspiration for me as they always smiled and were cheerful irrespective of what was going on. So, I decided to join in their happiness and strength. I started interacting with the other critical kids and played with them. They gave me strength and I returned the same to them.” Saim shared his Indus moments cheerfully while painting with another young kid who had just returned from his chemo session.

After one year of treatment, Saim is now cancer-free and studying engineering with the hope of joining the army as an engineer or a technician. “We are so grateful to Indus for giving my son a new life, the strength and courage to fight back and to never give up on hope in the darkest times of life. It still seems surreal to me that till day, no one has ever asked me for a single penny. All I was asked to do was to stand by my son and stay strong. I just pray if all hospitals in the world and their staff become like Indus.” Saim’s Father.