MUM’S BATTLE
SHATTERED Shelina Begum watches her stricken daughter round the clock and prays that the five-year-old will pull through.
Her daughter Tafida Raqeeb is suffering from a rare brain condition and has been in a coma for five months.
Every day, her eyes open and her limbs move.
But UK medics say there is no way Tafida will survive and advise that her life support be switched off.
Shelina says a doctor told her to plan the funeral. But the mum, 39, and her husband Mohammed, 45, refuse to let their little girl die.
They want to take her to Italy for pioneering treatment which they hope could help her walk and talk again.
Speaking for the first time, lawyer Shelina said: “I am her mum and I have to fight for her. We’ve been repeatedly told she is dying, yet she’s always fought for her life.
“She is the most lovely, bubbly and friendly child. We have to give her this chance of recovery.”
The family’s world imploded in February when Tafida, then four, suddenly stopped breathing after a blood vessel in her brain burst at home in Newham, East London.
She needed immediate surgery, with just a one per cent chance of survival. Incredibly, Tafida did pull through. But medics say the brain damage she sustained is irreversible.
REHAB
They say she cannot survive without a ventilator and want to withdraw life support because she has no chance of a meaningful recovery.
Her parents have launched a legal bid to transfer Tafida from the Royal London Hospital to a clinic in Genoa.
The move comes after two Italian doctors examined the schoolgirl via video link and said they would treat her.
They said they would give Tafida a tracheostomy to help her breathe by herself and could even teach her to walk and talk again after intense rehab.
Shelina said: “I really do believe all of her functions could come back in time. We have to give her that chance.”
The family estimates the treatment will cost more than £100,000 and have begun fundraising to help with costs.
But first a High Court judge will decide in September whether the hospital should release Tafida – and whether it is in her best interests.
Her plight echoes that of 11-monthold Charlie Gard. He died from a genetic condition in 2017 after his parents, from West London, lost their bid to have him treated in the US.
Shelina added: “Parents should be allowed to make decisions for their children if it could have even a small chance of saving their life. What mum could stand by and let their child die if there is even a glimmer of hope?”
Tafida collapsed in the early hours of February 9. Blinking back tears, Shelina, who also has a 14-year-old son, said: “Tafida woke and said, ‘Mummy, my head hurts’. Five minutes later she had stopped breathing. I panicked and my son gave CPR while we waited for the paramedics to