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Rescued after 21 days but still fighting for life

By Iqbal Khattak

ABBOTTABAD: “Hello, Saeedur Rehman, hey, wake up, Rehman,” surgeon Fazl Wadood shakes the shoulders of the October 8 earthquake survivor, in a bid to bring Rehman back to senses. But the 26-year-old survivor who spent 21 days beneath the debris of his collapsed home in Allai does not respond. The response from Rehman worries the doctor for a moment. Then he puts his hand on Rehman’s heart. He feels the heart is beating. It brings smile to his face.

Rehman was rescued when some girls heard him crying feebly, “Pull me out,” on October 29. He was recovered alive and although he spoke during the initial minutes after his rescue, he has been silent since. Psychiatrics say he will slowly come out of his present state but they do not say when he will speak to his father who has been waiting to hear his son’s voice since he was rescued. “Rehman is my only son and it worries me that he is not speaking,” his father, Muhammad Sher, told Daily Times in the surgical ward of the Ayub Medical Complex. Surgeon Wadood says the lucky survivor has suffered a kind of brain haemorrhage. But the surgeon still holds hope that Rehman will speak one day. “It stands reason to believe that Rehman may come out of this state,” he told Daily Times. When he was brought to the Ayub Medical Complex on October 29, Rehman was unconscious. But his health improved considerably and he regained consciousness and recognised his father.

“Behaviour change does happen when someone goes through such an ordeal,” Dr Wadood said, “When Rehman was brought, his body was as stiff as wood.”

He was rescued when a girl looking for household goods amidst the debris of the destroyed home heard Rehman’s voice asking for help. The girl rushed Sher to give him the good news; “Rehman is alive.” “I could not believe it when I heard the news from the girl that Rehman was alive beneath the debris 21 days after the quake,” Sher said while trying to overcome his emotions.

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