​A Night to Remember

For 27 year-old Rehan Ali Memon, September 10, 2014, was a night to remember.

Rehan’s ordeal started on the evening of September 10.  Rehan works as a bus conductor for public and private buses. Buses in Karachi are negligent in following safety standards, as are many institutions in the city. On September 10, Rehan had climbed to the roof of an overcrowded bus to collect ticket payment from passengers, when he came in contact with a low lying, exposed electric wire. The shock from the impact threw him off the roof of the moving bus, onto the road below.  His left leg was badly hurt as a result of the fall. Concerned passengers and bus staff rushed him to a nearby hospital in a rickshaw.

Despite the fact that his leg was badly wounded, one hospital after another refused - or was unable - to provide him medical care due to reasons such as a lack of vacant beds or complexity of the case.  From the time the incident occurred (10 pm) to 1 pm the next afternoon, Rehan had been transferred between four hospitals, and provided limited treatment or pain relief.  His father describes his unbearable cries of pain. Finally, Rehan’s father brought him to Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) in a stretcher. At AKUH, he was given immediate attention. The Patient Welfare Programme stepped forward and decided to contribute to 65 per cent of the cost of Rehan’s treatment.

Rehan is the eldest of seven children. He left school at the age of 12 and started supporting his father, who was the sole breadwinner of the family. After working in a shop selling spare parts for some years, Rehan became a bus conductor. Although he had no family or children of his own, his steady income supplemented the family’s meager resources and helped to pay for his siblings’ education.​

On September 12, Rehan underwent surgery at AKUH. His doctors decided that the fracture was complex and required extensive surgery. In order to restore movement in his leg, a hip screw was inserted. After the surgery, Rehan continued to pay regular visits to his doctor, Dr Tashfeen Ahmad. The surgery was successful and his leg is slowly healing. He is now more mobile and able to move within and outside his house using a walker.  The pain and physical discomfort has also reduced.

Both Rehan and his father feel blessed by the financial and medical support provided by the Hospital and the Patient Welfare Programme.

“I could not think of coming to Aga Khan Hospital, it is too expensive for me. No one helps anyone else at a time like this. However, we received help here”, says Rehan’s father.