Editor’s note: The following article was submitted by Cindy D. Ott, RN, who served in Kabul, Afghanistan, at the CURE hospital there.

Nine year old Tahra arrived at CURE Hospital barely able to walk and stooped over, unable to straighten out her spine.  “When she is walking, she falls down,” said her father, Saed Ghulam Ali, a wheat farmer from Daikundi Province.  He traveled three days to bring Tahra to Kabul to obtain help, leaving his two wives and children.  He said they all live together, with Tahra being the oldest of five children with the second wife. He said his first wife, whom he described as his “bigger wife,” has three children, all married.

CURE Hospital was not the first stop for Tahra.  Ali said he first took Tahra to a clinic in their area where he was told she had a neurological problem which they could not treat.  He was given the address of a neurologist in Karta-parwan.  “That doctor said she will not be fine and it will cost a lot of money to continue medical testing,” he said.  The doctor gave him a card to get a wheelchair when his daughter would not be able to walk anymore.  He was then referred to a public hospital in Wazirakbar Khan, where he said he went to many departments.  He said Tahra received physical therapy there with two female physical therapists who told him, “Even if you take your daughter to America or Germany, she will not be fine.”  Then, he said, he told them, “You are all thieves.”

Discouraged, he left the public hospital, and he and Tahra went to a restaurant.  Tahra’s condition was getting worse.  He said that while he was eating, an Afghan man told him he would help them and pay for a hotel room.  He replied, “If you help me in the name of God, you should tell me where I go and help my daughter.”  Ali said the waiters paid for the food and the fellow who offered to help pay the bill showed up the next day and took them to CURE Hospital.

Dr. Jerry Umanos, pediatrician at CURE Hospital, said Tahra’s case was puzzling.  “We didn’t know what the problem was.  We examined many possibilities.  We consulted experts in the United States and in the United Kingdom, and they mentioned various possibilities, some of which were too expensive to consider.  Finally, we narrowed the treatment to what could be done here and it seems to be working,” he said.

Tahra was diagnosed with Dopa Responsive Dystonia and prescribed 60 milligrams of dopamine daily.  Dr. Djabbarova Zakhro, volunteer pediatrician at CURE Hospital, said she performed tests to check Tahra’s progress.  “I checked muscle strength and reflexes and checked to see if her gait was getting better.  I checked muscle strength by asking her to squeeze my fingers, and through these tests, I noticed the left side of her is weaker than her right side,” she said.

After two weeks of expert medical attention from the CURE pediatric staff and love and attention from the full-time nursing staff and CURE volunteer staff, Tahra has improved considerably.  “She is able to walk fine, and she is even running.  She’s not completely walking normally, but she is much better,” Dr. Umanos said.

Tahra’s father is very grateful to CURE for helping his daughter to walk again, and in the Afghan style, smiles, says “Tashikor (thank you),” bows his head, and places his hand over his heart.