A young girl from Pakistan battling a rare and debilitating condition has undergone life-changing surgery in Australia.
Mariam Saleem, 15, was born with Nager syndrome, which affects the development of her face, jaw, and mouth.
For most of her life she’s been too afraid to speak.
Her father Saleem Afzal has advocated tirelessly on her behalf after watching Mariam in pain, and said she didn’t utter a word for years.
“Her voice is not audible to everybody, nobody can understand her voice because she’s got a very shrill voice, and that’s why she’s stopped talking,” he said.
“It was a really, really difficult time for us. You can’t imagine.”
The family has been unable to access proper healthcare in Pakistan, and searched the world for help.
“In my country, there were no facilities to deal with such kind of care,” Afzal said.
“I couldn’t afford to do any of it. That was a really unimaginable thing for me.
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“This is the prime objective of my life, there is nothing more important than this.”
After searching the world for help, he found the Craniofacial Australia Foundation in Adelaide.
A team of surgeons at Calvary Hospital in the city worked pro-bono to help Mariam gain movement in her jaw.
The procedure, although daunting, was a success.
Mariam admitted she was “scared” but is “happy with the result.”
Her doctors expect she’ll be back in Adelaide over the next few years to undergo further surgeries.
Christina Panagopoulos from Craniofacial Australia explained how it helped.
“We provided financial assistance for them to be able to commute from Pakistan to Australia, and we also co-ordinated the care team, so the craniofacial surgeon, the dentist that was able to assist with treatment,” Panagopoulos said.
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