On May 12, 2020, unidentified gunmen entered the maternity ward of a hospital in western Kabul and killed 24 women, babies, children, and staff members.
Just hours after her birth, Fawzia, whose name has been changed for her protection, was shot three times in her right leg. Her young mother was among the dead, and Fawzia’s condition was poor. After seeing a Facebook post about Fawzia’s injury, a local dentist, Salima, whose name has been changed, sought out the young girl at a nearby hospital. Doctors planned to amputate Fawzia’s leg. Salima helped move Fawzia to a facility where doctors would try to save it. The following day, when Fawzia urgently required a blood transfusion, Salima used Facebook to find donors with the child’s rare blood type. She sourced enough donations to save Fawzia’s life.
In the passing months, Salima continued to help Fawzia’s family by paying for her treatments. After several surgeries, Fawzia’s prognosis was good. With proper care and therapy, her orthopedic surgeon believed Fawzia would one day walk. Fawzia’s miraculous survival, lauded around the world, was a testament to the power of democratic Afghanistan’s advances in technology and medicine. Almost 20 years of progress helped one victim overcome the brutality of terrorism.
Nine months of Taliban rule have blown away the memories of Afghanistan’s ascent toward stability. Afghan women face violence and oppression and are once more subjected to the anonymity of life behind a veil. Girls are denied access to secondary schools. Afghans who worked for the United States or the former Afghan government live in hiding for fear of the Taliban’s reprisal killing campaign. The apparatuses of democracy have been dismantled, joblessness is rampant, and the threat of starvation looms for millions.
Fawzia remains in great peril.
Unable to receive regular care while her father, a former member of the Afghan National Police, lives in hiding, Fawzia began to suffer from sepsis several weeks before her second birthday. Operation 620, a nonprofit group that assists Afghan allies awaiting evacuation to the U.S. (full disclosure: I manage some cases for Operation 620), stepped in to assist the young girl. Though the organization sourced funds to cover Fawzia’s private hospital stay, it soon became clear that her condition required more extensive care than she could receive in Afghanistan.
Operation 620 has contacted numerous countries with the medical expertise necessary to save Fawzia’s leg and her life. No government has offered to provide medical care for Fawzia and asylum for her father, who needs to accompany his daughter as her caregiver.
This week brought more bad news. The blood supply to Fawzia’s leg is not sufficient. Her doctor tells Operation 620 that if Fawzia is not moved within a week and a half, her leg will require amputation. Volunteers at Operation 620 tell me they are concerned Fawzia might not survive the operation, considering the diminished conditions of Afghan medical facilities.
When Fawzia overcame the impossible with the help of her countrymen, she became a symbol of hope. For millions of Afghans struggling against the misery of economic decline, starvation, and unending persecution at the hands of the Taliban, the preservation of Fawzia’s life could be a vital moment of triumph during a period of hopelessness.
To that end, the Biden administration should promptly offer Fawzia medical treatment before her condition deteriorates further. Fawzia’s survival stands to become another miraculous reminder of the human power to overcome darkness. Allowing Fawzia to succumb to her treatable ailments would be further proof of the Western world’s failing commitment to the Afghans it once promised to support.
Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a freelance writer from the Detroit area. She manages several cases for Operation 620.
