Pak woman overcomes chronic ailment in city

Divya Sharma

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 12

Amidst border tension between India and Pakistan, Atiya Khalid, a Pakistani woman, is all praise for a local rehabilitation centre that helped her recuperate from a chronic ailment.

Atiya, 43, turned up at Bhatia Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital and De-Addiction Centre three months ago for treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, but was later diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a state where body expresses the unsaid negative emotions through acute pain and weakness.

Hailing from Qadian, Gurdaspur district, and married in Pakistan for 23 years, Atiya had been facing medical issues since 2006. “I have been to 22 doctors in Pakistan and other places. But this centre in Amritsar worked wonders for me,” she said.

According to Atiya, she was wheelchair bound at their house in Rabwah (Chenab Nagar), Pakistan. Her entire family life suffered and there was huge financial burden due to her ailment. From the Bhatia Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital and De-Addiction Centre, she was transferred to the hermitage centre under the hospital authorities. It took her three months to recover.

“Every time I came via Wagah border, people took pity on me. Now, I will go back and recommend people in Pakistan to visit India. People from both the countries love each other. I have found a new beginning here. One should not lose hope,” says Atiya, who writes for local magazines and adopted painting once her life took an ugly turn in 2006.

Dr JP Bhatia of Bhatia Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital and De-Addiction Centre and Hermitage Centre said, “She had been taking a number of addictive pills which caused harm to her body. We had to remove her from all those ailments. Her body expressed her mental state. Her ailment is very common.”