Foot saved by Pune doctor, 12-year-old Yemeni girl is all set to walk

Hadia had a painful and progressive swelling, almost the size of a balloon, on her foot. It has rendered her immobile as she grew up. Her father took her to many doctors across Egypt and India till he found the correct solution

Dr Abhishek Ghosh (second from left) with Hadia and her father Munassar

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“Till the time my daughter is not able to walk on her own feet, I am not leaving Pune,” says Munassar Abobakr, a taxi driver who had come all the way from Yemen to treat his child who had large vascular malformation of her foot.

Twelve-year-old Hadia has recently undergone a rare and challenging surgery to treat the congenital anomaly. The entire lesion was taken out and the foot was reconstructed with local flaps in a five-hour-long surgery.

The painful and progressive swelling, almost the size of a balloon on her foot, has rendered her immobile as she grew up and the hapless father had to consult various doctors across Egypt and India till he found the correct solution.

“I wish we had met the doctors here in Pune much earlier as this defect could have been rectified earlier,” says 42-year-old Abobakr while his interpreter Yasmeen Ali explains how most people from Yemen who come to India seeking medical advice and treatment are economically challenged.

“Abobakr has taken multiple loans to ensure the recovery of his daughter. He is extremely happy with the outcome of the surgery. Now, his daughter can walk without pain with the aid of a walker,” Ali says.

Dr Abhishek Ghosh at Poona Hospital who performed the surgery on Hadia told The Indian Express that usually the congenital anomaly is noticed once it grows large. “The lesion was growing and the swelling increased over the years. She was unable to walk properly and hobbled around. The family members told us via an interpreter that she was shown to multiple doctors in Yemen, Egypt and India, operated upon once, and sclerotherapy was performed but there was no relief,” Dr Ghosh says.

The malformation involved half of her foot and required the amputation of one toe, he says.

When Dr Ghosh met the child, she was in agony and the lesion was extensive involving even the sole of her foot. “In such cases, partial or total forefoot amputation is done. But we decided to take out the entire lesion with the second toe while preserving other toes so that she could walk properly,” the doctor adds.

The surgery was performed 10 days ago where the entire vascular tumour was meticulously dissected from its attachment to the various arteries, veins, soft tissue and bony structure under magnifications.