KARACHI - Carrying dreams in his eyes, Jamil Asghar Shar left for China to complete his PhD degree, but fate had something else in store for him.
Before he could complete his studies, he suffered brain haemorrhage and is under treatment in a hospital in China right now.
His family belonged to the Thari Mirwah town of Khairpur Mir’s, but his father shifted the family to Hyderabad, where they were living in a rented house in Latifabad so that he could manage a proper education for his children.
Shar was a very talented person who passed his matriculation from Cadet College Larkana in A-1 grade and secured fourth position in his intermediate examination.
He later got an admission in Bachelor of Computer Sciences & Information Technology in NED University Karachi and also did his Master of Computer Sciences & Information Technology, following which he became an information technology manager at his alma mater.
But it was not enough for the hardworking Shar, so he appeared for his PhD for Pakistan-China Cultural Exchange Scholarship and received such high marks that not only the Pakistani government but also its Chinese counterpart recommended his name for the scholarship.
After getting the recommendations, he left for China and started his PhD studies at the Central South University, Changsha city, Hunan province, China.
On March 22 this year, Shar suffered a brain haemorrhage, which resulted in a coma. The next day, he was operated upon and the operation was successful.
Since then, he is under treatment at the third hospital of the Central South University. During treatment, he also suffered a lung infection as well as meningitis, due to which he was again operated upon.
According to his family, his condition is improving slowly and the lung infection has been controlled. “Since he is still in ICU, the medical cover provided by the Chinese government is about to exhaust. The university has informed us that once the funds run out, the treatment would be stopped,” said a family member.
The expenses per day to keep Shar breathing are between 8000 to 9000 yuan (Rs 115,236 to 129,641). Seventy five percent of the medical cover has already been consumed.
“We are unable to bear his expenses after the medical cover is exhausted. He is out of danger, but he needs support for a while until he comes out of the hospital for further recovery,” the family member said.
“He needs your support. He has excellent academic track record. He earned his scholarship on his performance in GRE and previous academic records,” added the family member.
Some of Shar’s friends have started appealing to donors online and opened up different accounts so his life could be saved.
“This bright fellow is the future of Pakistan and he is fighting for his life after suffering brain haemorrhage. His health insurance was exhausted on May 3, and funds are now unavailable for provision of advanced life support to him at the hospital. Therefore, we request donors to come forward,” said his friends in an online appeal.
They said that he needs at least Rs 3 million, for which they have listed different methods for the funds to be deposited.