'We are desperate': Family of Pakistani girl, 6, with rare genetic disease beg for help after being offered moonshot surgery in the US - but no visa to get there

A desperate Pakistani family anxiously awaiting a U.S. visa for their ailing little girl is running out of time. 


Maria is just six years old but a rare genetic disease has left her frail body wracked with pain and stunted her growth. Soon she will be unable to walk because her vertebrae are compressing her spinal cord. A U.S. hospital has offered to perform a surgery for free that could significantly improve Maria's quality of her life. But the American Embassy in Islamabad has so far twice refused to give the family visas to travel to the United States, said the girl's father, Shahid Ullah. The surgery in the U.S. has been scheduled for November 2 and Ullah is pleading with anyone who will listen that Maria's 'case is different'.