13-Year-old Afsheen Gul could never go to school or play with her friends. The teenager from Pakistan's Sindh province had been dealt a difficult hand by fate.
An accident, when she was just 10 months old, left her neck bent at 90 degrees. She had slipped from her sister's arms.
Her parents took her to a doctor who gave her medicine, but her condition didn't improve. Her pain only grew worse.
Her parents couldn't afford to spend money on further treatment.
Afsheen also suffers from cerebral palsy. The compound effect of the two conditions left her struggling with her academics.
For twelve long years, she was left to bear the cross of agony on her feeble shoulders.
Then, in one swift stroke, a dramatic turn changed her life for the better.
In March, a kind doctor from across the border offered to operate on her without charging a single penny.
Dr Rajagopalan Krishnan, a doctor at Delhi's Apollo Hospital, successfully performed surgery on her neck, BBC News reported.
"This is probably the first case of its kind in the world," Dr Rajagopalan Krishnan told BBC.
Afsheen got in touch with Dr Rajagopalan Krishnan when Alexandria Thomas, a British journalist, did a story on her. She put Afsheen and her family in touch with the doctor.
"We are so happy-the doctor saved my sister's life. For us, he is an angel," Afsheen's brother Yaqoob Kumbar told BBC.
The family went to India last year to get her treated. An online fundraiser helped them cover their expenses.
It was a taxing time for the family. Yaqoob Kumbar said in the report, "Dr Krishnan told us that her heart or lungs may stop beating during the operation."
She had to undergo four major operations before her neck could get better.
The main surgery was conducted in February, and took six hours to complete.
"Due to his efforts and supervision, the operation was successful," Yaqoob Kumbar said in the report.
After the successful completion of the surgery, Dr Rajagopalan Krishnan told reporters that she would not have survived long without the appropriate treatment.
But now the little girl is "smiling and talking," the report said.
Dr Rajagopalan Krishnan checks on her improvement every week via Skype.
