DULUTH, Minn. -- Pakistani officials agree with the family of comatose Pakistani student Muhammad Shahzaib Bajwa that he should remain at Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center for treatment.
"That's what we have said is give this boy a chance, because definitely the medical facilities here are much better than in Pakistan," said Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, the Pakistani general consul in Chicago.
But as of Friday, exactly two weeks before Bajwa's student visa will expire, the U.S. State Department still hadn't answered the consulate's request that Bajwa's stay be extended until his condition stabilizes, Tirmizi said.
The recovery to that point could take more than a year, said Bajwa's brother, Shahraiz Bajwa, in an interview earlier this week.
Shahraiz, 22, who immediately flew to the United States from Pakistan after learning about the accident, wants his brother kept at St. Mary's because of the superior quality of care here, he said this week. But he's also concerned that his brother might not survive the long flight.
That's possible, an official for a company that specializes in such flights said.
"We don't have data about deaths in flights, but it has happened, yes," said Sarah Hanley, director of corporate communications for Alabama-based AirMed International.
AirMed, which transfers all international patients for the Mayo Clinic, has transported patients who were in comas, Hanley said. And distance is not an issue.
"We have transported patients from Minnesota to places such as Pakistan, or vice versa," Hanley said. "It is possible and done quite often, transports of that long-distance scope."
Read reporter John Lundy's Full Article here.
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