THE teary-eyed mum of severely disabled youngster Tafida Raqeeb has revealed she is “fully awake and turning head”.
Shelina Begum made the revelation after she and her 5-year-old daughter touched down in Italy after beating a “death sentence” when the NHS wanted to take her off life support.
A High Court judge ruled earlier this month that the five-year-old girl could be moved from the Royal London Hospital to the Gaslini children’s hospital in Genoa to continue treatment.
Shelina told reporters: “I visited Tafida this morning, she is stable, she was awake, fully awake, turning her head from side to side. I told her that mummy and daddy are here and the whole family are coming.
She also revealed she would be seeking Italian citizenship for her child adding: “I just believe that since Tafida is in Italy it will be wise for her to have Italian citizenship.”
She was taken by chartered plane to Italy on Tuesday, and her parents appeared beside the hospital’s director at a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Shelina Begum thanked the hospital for “believing in my daughter’s recovery” and said the transfer was “extremely smooth”.
She said the family are crowdfunding for Tafida’s treatment but the money “should not run out”.
“We do have financial sponsors in place. Should we not be able to raise the funds then the financial sponsors will come in and pay for the treatment.”
She said she did not want to disclose how much the hospital is charging.
“My hope for Tafida would be to see her improve every day, something that she has been doing in the last eight months,” she added.
Tafida was awake and her eyes were open as she was wheeled from an ambulance driven from the Royal London hospital, east London yesterday
Shelina, 38, watched on as her daughter was carried up the steps to a Learjet in a private hangar at Biggin Hill Airport, in south east London.
She took a seat behind her daughter for the three-hour flight as medics monitored Tafida as she breathed through a ventilator.
Shelina of Plaistow, east London, said: “She’s really stable. She’s awake now. But it’s been a tough morning.”
She’s really stable. She’s awake now. But it’s been a tough morning.
Shelina Begum
The jet taking Tafida and her mum to the Gaslini Children’s Hospita, in Genoa, Italy, took off at 4.30pm.
Husband Mohammed Raqeeb, 45, had flown ahead to meet Shelina and their daughter in Italy.
He said: “This journey to Italy has given us hope. Hope that Tafida will have the best life that we can give her.
Tafida suffered catastrophic brain injures at home in February.She has been on life-support in intensive a the Royal London Hospital unable to see, walk or breathe without a ventilator.
Doctors recommended they switch off her life-support claiming it was in her “best interests”.
Shelina, a solicitor, took Barts Health NHS Trust to the High Court to overrule their decision stopping the family taking their daughter for more treatment in Italy.
Justice Alastair MacDonald earlier this month ruled Tafida could be taken out of the country.
Tafida is believed to be the first child to be allowed by a court to travel abroad for treatment after winning a court battle with the NHS.
