It has been three months since Abdul Kahar arrived in Hyderabad, and more than two years since a stray bullet turned his life upside down. Thanks to the doctors at the city’s Osmania General Hospital, for the first time in all these months, Kahar is able to walk properly without feeling pain tear through him.
Abdul Kahar was hit by a bullet during an exchange of fire between the Taliban and Afghan security forces in Kabul in 2014.
The bullet passed through his abdomen, after having torn into his colon and bladder and shattering his hip bone. It had hurt Kahar’s hip so badly that even standing up became an arduous task.
While Kahar received basic treatment at the Emergency Hospital at Sherpoor Road in Kabul, doctors told his family that it would take a hip surgery to fix all the problems. But Kahar’s family just couldn't afford such a surgery.
This left Kahar, then just 16 years old, barely able to walk as his left leg gave up completely. After two years of watching his son living with his pain, Kahar’s father Abdul Razzak finally heard that his son could get the surgery for free in Hyderabad’s OGH.
With help from a member of Afghanistan's National Assembly and the Red Cross, Kahar and Razzak reached Hyderabad on January 3 this year. But arriving here, Razzak found out that the government’s free treatment schemes would not cover his son’s operation.
After almost a month of waiting, he managed to get in touch with Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) leader Amjed Ullah Khan, who promised to help him.
Khan made a video appeal to Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, asking him to release funds for Kahar, as a humanitarian move that bridged the distance between two countries.
The Chief Minister’s office responded with alacrity, sanctioning Rs 1,35,000 on February 3, covering all the medical expenses, including the surgery.
The funds arranged, Kahar went into the operation theatre on February 8, and underwent a completely successful surgery. But it would take another six weeks of rest and rehabilitation before Kahar could finally walk.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Dr K Kodandapani from the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) said that Kahar’s condition had required a full hip replacement. “Two surgeries had not healed the wound. There was the need to replace the hip to make him walk again... Abdul has undergone rehabilitation in the hospital and is finally able to walk.”
Soon after the surgery, Abdul Razzak had expressed heartfelt gratitude to all the people who had given his son the chance of a fresh start.
"I can't thank anyone enough. People have been extremely kind to me, from the sweepers at the hospital, to the doctors, to (Amjed) Khan saab to the Telangana government, which has made this possible. I never thought I would see this day. I will never forget this gesture, and I will take it to my grave," he had said.
Read: Beyond Borders: Heartwarming story of how an Afghan war victim was healed in Hyderabad