'Our little miracle'

18 June 2008

Murid's parents give their son a hug

DESCRIBED as "a little miracle" brave battler Murad Shaikh has gone through more in his nine years than many people do in a lifetime.

The plucky youngster has fought to stay alive on more than one occasion - yet he has never lost his ability to keep on fighting - while continuing to smile and make his family laugh through all the adversity.

Now he is home from his latest brush with death, a remarkable kidney transplant that has saved his life.

Murad makes the most of life and he is a very confident and happy boy. The little hero, who lives in Heigham Road, East Ham, with his family, has even become a bit of a VIP in his own right and now counts a famous pop singer as one of his friends.

He has also danced with and kissed another pop star, who cheeky Murad now calls his 'girlfriend'. The youngster also met the late first woman president of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, was shown around by Mickey Mouse during a VIP shopping session especially for him, and has sung and danced on stage with West End stars.

The Recorder has been following Murad's battle - and his adventures - since he was a little tot.

At birth he was given just two days to live, which devastated his mother Gowhar, and father Farhat, who had already lost four babies. They then had to prepare to lose another child - one they had hoped for so long.

But Murad, who has the rare and sometimes fatal kidney and blood disorder fanconi anaemia, had other ideas.

Susan Smith's full story on the amazing youngster in this week's Recorder