After US-Bangla pilot Abid Sultan died in a crash in Nepal on March 12, his widow Afsana Khanom suffered a stroke at a time when the family was worried over the procedures of bringing back his body.
Afsana’s physical condition deteriorated fast. Doctors pronounced her dead on Friday (March 23), six days after she had been hospitalized.
Their near and dear ones, bewildered with shock as so many tragic incidents happened within a short time, were left lost for words.
“Please let us be,” Dr Khurshid Mahmud, brother of Abid, told reporters.
“Only we know what we are going through. We are very much shocked. Do not disturb us, please,” he said.
The body of Afsana was taken to their residence from the National Institute of Neuroscience and Hospital in the afternoon. She will be laid to rest next to her husband’s grave at the Banani graveyard following namaj-e-janaza in Uttara after Asr prayers.
Reporters, who went to cover the news, were searching for the couple’s only son for comments. The family members hid him so that he did not have to face the reporters.
Afsana’s cousin Shahinur Islam Swapon said the boy was sleeping beside his mother when she (Afsana) suffered a stroke.
“Initially he did not understand what had happened. After waking up, when he noticed that his mother was not responding, he began screaming.
“Upon hearing his screams others came and took Afsana to Uttara Adhunik Medical College Hospital.
“From there we shifted her to this hospital (National Institute of Neuroscience and Hospital). Her condition worsened on Thursday (March 22). None of the organs in her body was working. Doctors declared her dead today in the morning after a checkup,” Swapon said.
Captain Abid who sustained injuries in the plane crash in Kathmandu on March 12, died at a hospital there a day after the incident. Six days later, his wife was hospitalized after she suffered a stroke. She underwent a surgery at the Institute of Neuroscience and Hospital but suffered another stroke following the operation.
As her condition deteriorated, she underwent yet another surgery. Since then she had been on life support.