Young Pakistani doctor dies moments before liver transplant in US

In a tragic turn of events, 27-year-old Pakistani physician Dr Maryam Shoukat, who was pursuing her residency in the United States, died just half an hour before she was due to undergo a life-saving liver transplant at Rutgers University Hospital in Newark.

Dr Shoukat had moved to the US with hopes of serving people through medicine, but earlier this month she was struck by acute liver failure. Her condition worsened rapidly, leaving doctors with no option but to recommend an urgent transplant.

In desperation, her husband, Dr Hamza Zafar, reached out to the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA). The appeal sparked an extraordinary response: within a single day, $273,000 was donated, and contributions soon climbed to nearly $400,000.

The overwhelming support persuaded the hospital to lower the transplant cost from $900,000 to $450,000.

With $100,000 promptly deposited by APPNA, Maryam was placed on the official transplant list, and a matching donor organ was quickly identified.

But the hope proved short-lived. Just before surgery, Dr. Shoukat suffered brain herniation and slipped into a coma. She was placed on life support, but doctors later confirmed she could not recover, and she passed away soon after.