Bilal Shafiq (L) plays with his friends in Khost province, Afghanistan, Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)
ALI SHER, Afghanistan, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- "I no longer tire easily; before, even a short jog left me exhausted. I am overjoyed that I underwent the surgery and have regained full health and vigor," said Bilal Shafiq, a young boy who once struggled to breathe, but now enjoys life in his ancestral village in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province after successful heart surgery in China.
Bilal's story began nearly a decade ago, when congenital heart disease threatened to steal his future. Short of breath and fragile, he was forbidden from playing with friends, his world shrinking to the confines of his family's modest home in the remote Ali Sher district of Khost province.
Then, hope arrived from afar. In 2017 and 2018, Bilal was among 100 Afghan children selected for the Angels Journey program. This initiative, spearheaded by the Chinese Red Cross Foundation (CRCF), airlifted young patients to state-of-the-art hospitals in Xinjiang in northwest China, where expert surgeons mended their broken hearts at no cost.
Now stepping into his 16th year, Bilal shares his daily rhythms with quiet pride: "I study and complete my homework. I serve my grandfather and father, and I fetch the household provisions." Simple tasks, yet profound victories for a child once confined by a failing heart.
Tears stream down his dust-covered face, not from pain, but from an overwhelming surge of gratitude. "My tears flow from sheer joy, for I am utterly elated," Bilal told Xinhua, who journeyed to China in 2017 for the life-saving surgery.
Today, Bilal joyfully engages in games with his peers, his energy boundless. "I am healthy again; I play with my friends. Before, I couldn't do anything at all," he beams. This rebirth extends beyond him; it's a lifeline woven into the fabric of his family.
Lailo Khan, Bilal's 61-year-old grandfather, a weathered farmer who has toiled endlessly to sustain 31 relatives on meager harvests, recalls the anguish of helplessness. With no means for medical care, he watched his grandson fade. Now, he expresses profound gratitude: "We are deeply thankful to China, for we are poor people with no resources to treat our sick. China came to our aid, took Bilal, performed the surgery, and now he is in perfect health."
The family's elation is palpable. "His illness had once shattered his life, but now we rejoice that he is cured; his father, mother, and every member of the family are overjoyed," Khan told Xinhua while standing on his farm lands in Haroon Khail region of Ali Sher district.
Bilal's grandfather said the entire trip to China, including the surgical procedure, lasted 22 days, during which all services were provided to them free of charge.
Nearly a decade after Bilal's operation, the Chinese medical teams who treated him remain in regular contact and continue to check on his health. Just three months ago, the hospital in China called again to ask how Bilal was doing, a gesture that deeply moved the family.
Bilal's miracle underscores a broader crisis in Afghanistan, where congenital heart defects afflict thousands. Poor maternal nutrition during pregnancy, consanguineous marriages, and indiscriminate medication use fuel this epidemic.
About 15,000 Afghan children diagnosed with heart defects are registered and still awaiting treatment, many of them from impoverished households with no access to specialized care, Afghan Red Crescent Society spokesperson Hafiz Abdul Qadeem Abrar told Xinhua in late September.
As Afghanistan continues to struggle with limited medical infrastructure and financial hardship, families like Bilal's see international medical cooperation as a lifeline for children who otherwise face bleak prospects.
For Bilal, the life he enjoys today was once unimaginable. For thousands of Afghan children like him, hope now rests on future humanitarian medical partnerships that could offer the same chance at life, health, and joy. ■
Bilal Shafiq (L) plays with his friends in Khost province, Afghanistan, Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)