US-Bangla pilot Abid Sultan’s wife fighting for her life in ‘precoma’ after stroke

Afsana Khanam, the widow of pilot Abid Sultan, is now in a 'precoma' state and fighting for life following a post-stroke brain operation, doctors say.

“She is in precoma on life support. We are trying. Let’s see what Allah does,” Prof Badrul Alam, a joint director of Dhaka’s National Institute of Neuroscience and Hospital, told bdnews24.com at 9:15pm on Monday.

“We hoped her condition would improve following the surgery. But the opposite has happened,” Associate Professor Siraji Shariful Islam of the hospital told bdnews24.com around 5pm.

He said Afsana’s condition did not improve much after she was put on life support.

Abid was the pilot of the US-Bangla Airlines plane that crashed in Kathmandu on Mar 12. He was killed along with 48 others in the accident. There were 71 passengers and crew members from four nationalities.

Afsana was admitted to the hospital and underwent surgery following a decision by the medical board after she was taken there on Sunday.

Prof Badrul, who is treating Afsana, earlier said they would form another medical board for Afsana’s treatment on Tuesday.

Mahim Hossain, one of Abid’s friends, told bdnews24.com his wife went to see Afsana at the hospital.

“Her condition is very critical now, but the doctors are yet to make the final comments,” he said.

Abid’s brother Mahmud Khurshid is also a doctor. He brought Abid’s mortal remains from Nepal on Monday.

Tanzid Sultan, the only son of Abid Sultan, waits to receive the body of his father, the pilot who died along with 48 others in the crash of a US-Bangla Airlines plane in Nepal on Mar 12. Tanzid's mother Afsana Khanam is fighting for her life at a hospital in Dhaka on Monday after suffering a brain stroke.

Abid and Afsana’s 16-year-old son Tanzid Sultan went to receive the body of his father at the Army Stadium where a funeral service was held.

The plane crashed during landing in Kathmandu on Mar 12, killing 49, 26 of them Bangladeshi nationals.

The US-Bangla authorities initially stated that Captain Abid had been hospitalised with injuries, but confirmed his death the next day.

“We told Afsana Khanam the news, but she could not believe it,” a close friend of Abid told bdnews24.com.

“She recovered a bit after she heard he was alive. But she broke down completely after hearing the news of his death.”