Representational image. Photo: iStockKozhikode: It did not take long for life to turn topsy-turvy for Athifa Aboobacker, 18. She has been forced to swallow one bitter pill after another - the loss of a loved one and a debilitating illness, though not Nipah.
Athifa's 'nikah' with her paternal cousin Muhammed Salih, 26, from Changaroth, Perambra, was held recently but they were yet to formalise the wedding as per Islamic tradition and start living together.
However, the Nipah outbreak and the subsequent death of Salih’s brother Sabith on May 5 was a shocker to the family. Athifa was also admitted to the isolation ward of a private hospital in Kozhikode, in the fear that she too would have contracted the infection.
Salih died on May 18 of Nipah but the family did not have the courage to inform her, says her father Aboobacker. Athifa was subsequently shifted to a major private hospital in Kochi on the advise of doctors.
“Salih’s mother is my sister and their house is just 10km away from ours. The nikah was solemnised but they had not started living together. However, when Athifa started showing Nipah-like symptoms, she too was taken to the hospital in Kozhikode. She was also put in the isolation ward.
"Her condition deteriorated and doctors advised shifting to another hospital. Her blood pressure was dropping and was experiencing extreme fatigue. Her condition is normal now, but we are finding it difficult to meet the expenses here. My brother-in-law immediately transferred Rs 10,000, but on certain days, the daily expenses go up to Rs 5,000. We had to foot a bill of Rs 35,000 at the Kozhikode hospital,” Aboobacker says.
Hospital sources in Kochi said the test results of Athifa's samples sent from the Kozhikode hospital did not indicate the presence of Nipah virus. Athifa was recovering, they said.
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