Pak cricket commentator's daughter undergoes bone marrow transplant in B'luru

Bengaluru, Oct 19 A Pakistani cricket commentator's two-year-old daughter has successfully undergone a bone marrow transplant (BMT) in Bengaluru's Narayana Health City hospital, an official announcement said on Wednesday.

Amyra Sikandar Khan, from Karachi, was treated for Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I), a rare condition that has the potential to impact the functioning of multiple organs, including the eyes and brain.

The doctors used the bone marrow of her father Sikandar Bakht to conduct the BMT.

Dr Sunil Bhat, Vice Chairman, Oncology Services and Oncology Collegium, said it has been four months since the BMT and post checks have suggested that the child is normalizing.

"The child did not have a brother or sister, we tried for a donor but did not fine one. Hence, the father's bone marrow was used. The father is a Pakistani national and he flew here," he said.

Sadaf Khan, the child's mother, said that upon leader of her daughter's condition, she got in touch with Dr Bhat and decided to get the treatment done in Bengaluru.

"She was 18 months old when the transplantation was done. Four months down the lane, am happy and see my child happy. The assistance was given for visa and other formalities for my husband to go to Bengaluru from Pakistan. We faced no hassles," she added.

Narayana Health, a healthcare chain in India, had successfully treated 2,000 patients through BMT the first in the country to do so.

Addressing a gathering, Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman and Founder of Narayana Health, said: "In 2004 when we started our first unit in Bengaluru with two members, our idea was to provide Bone Marrow Transplant facilities to the residents in and around Karnataka. I am glad and proud that today we have 25 doctors and 300 nursing expert teams treating more than 25 -30 patients every month and have become the sought after chain for the treatment modality."

"Approximately 2 lakh patients in India get diagnosed every year with various blood disorders, however, there are only a few large scale BMT facilities. We are looking at adding 20 beds and setting up four more centres across Ahmedabad, Raipur, Mysore and Gurugram," added Dr.Emmanuel Rupert, Managing Director and Group CEO, Narayana Health.