New Delhi For two months she fought valiantly to survive. And just when it was time for her to get discharged from the hospital, little Falak died of an "unexpected" heart attack around 9.40pm on Thursday.
The two-year-old, who had the nation praying for her recovery, left many with tears in their eyes after news broke of her death.
Doctors and nurses treating her were shocked as Falak was off the ventilator and had been moved to the children's ward from the ICU a few days ago after her condition was found to be stable.
Dr Sumit Sinha, neuro-surgeon at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Trauma Centre, said: "There is a sudden vacuum in life, as we had grown so close to the child while treating her."
Dr Deepak Agrawal, assistant professor of neurosurgery said: "She had a sudden cardiac arrest and we tried [our] best to revive her. Though her heart rate had been fluctuating all day, we saw no immediate cause of worry. She had shown immense signs of recovery and was fit enough to be discharged soon."
Agrawal suspected her heart had become weak due to the two cardiac arrests she had suffered earlier. "And this time it was probably too much for the delicate child to bear. The reason of her death will be clear only after a post-mortem is conducted," he said.
Culpable homicide
Her body may have to be preserved and her blood samples have also been kept for DNA testing.
A 14-year-old girl brought Falak to AIIMS on January 18 in a serious condition. The teen had admitted to battering the child because she could not take care of her. Currently in a juvenile care home, she was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
But a police officer informed, "Now she will be booked for graver charges because the child is dead."
Falak had begun to be known as "a miracle baby", who, after undergoing five life-saving operations and some bacterial infections, had still shown the will to fight. A team of ten doctors tended her around the clock.
But Dr Agrawal maintained: "Due to damage to her brain, she could not have led a normal life."
The harrowing ordeal the child suffered had shocked the country and many had wanted to adopt her. Tenaciously, she had clung on to life that had offered her nothing but trauma and pain.
Officials at a loss over child's body
An AIIMS official said: "We have no idea who would take the infant's body. Her mother, Munni, presently staying at a shelter home for women in Delhi, had visited her once in the hospital. She would need the court's permission to see Falak."
