Muscat: A bone marrow transplant in the south Indian city of Bengaluru has given a new ray of hope to an Omani girl who is suffering from leukaemia.
Three-year-old Mariam Bint Abu Ahmad needed a bone marrow transplant for which a donor was not a problem, but the family had to look for advanced facilities to successfully perform the surgery. Her eight-year-old brother Abdullah was fit to donate the bone marrow. The family opted for facilities at the Narayana Hrudayalaya Multi Speciality Hospital and Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre.
"We do not mind the travel because we will go to any lengths to save our daughter," said Mariam's father, Abu Ahmad, a government employee in Oman, the Bengaluru edition of the Deccan Chronicle reported. The bone marrow transplant from one sibling to another was successfully performed and Mariam has now been moved to a ward, the report said.
Mariam was diagnosed with leukaemia six months ago and her family began searching for treatment options.
"They were referred here and the Oman government is bearing the entire cost of this transplant which comes to around 9,000 Omani riyals (Dh85,855)," the Omani father said.
"In such a situation, a bone marrow transplant is the only permanent solution.
"It will help the child to lead a completely normal life," said Dr Sharat Damodar, Consultant Haematologist at the Bengaluru hospital.
