Teenage girl from Renfrewshire, who lost her brother to a rare condition, selected as a finalist for an award after remarkable fundraising efforts
A schoolgirl from Renfrewshire, Scotland, who began raising money at the age of seven after her older sibling passed away, has been selected as a finalist for an award, GlasgowLive reports.
Mariya Javed, 14, was deeply affected by the sudden death of her brother, Ahmar, who was suffering from a rare condition which leads to a tangle of blood vessels that irregularly connects arteries and veins, disrupting blood flow and oxygen circulation, referred to as an arteriovenous malformation (AVM).
Ahmar was only 13-years-old when he had a sudden bleed in the brain in 2017, leading to his demise.
Mariya and Ahmar’s parents, Sameena and Mohammed, cannot forget the last 10 days of their son’s life.
Sameena, in an interview with GlasgowLive, said, “One day he was at karate and we received a call saying he was sick.
“I just thought he’d eaten something that he shouldn’t have eaten. We went over there and one of the instructors was standing outside and said they called an ambulance because he was having a seizure.
“My brother has epilepsy so I thought that Ahmar had it. The ambulance took him to hospital and they carried out checks.
“They said it wasn’t epilepsy and that he had a bleed on the brain. They didn’t think he’d make it through the night.
“They told us that it was AVM. He was put in an induced coma but his brain was continuing to swell.
“After a few days they cut away a part of the skull to relieve the pressure, before the operation they said it was 50/50.
“But we needed to give him that chance because we were going to lose him if we didn’t. It was a successful surgery.
“On day 10 of recovery we got a phone call in the middle of the night and we were told he had another bleed. They said it was unsurvivable so we were advised to switch the machines off.
“By the noon that day we buried him.”
The Elderslie family was completely devastated after the loss of their son. According to GlasgowLive, Mariya, who was just aged seven back then, was very close to her brother and would constantly be present by his side.
Sameena continued, “They were very close and did everything with each other.
“That day they were at karate together. He played cricket and she would go along and watch.
“She never saw her brother in hospital. So for her it was like one day he was there and the next day he wasn’t.”
The young girl was driven to fundraise for various causes, with her most recent effort being the Glasgow Kiltwalk in April which raised £779 for Glasgow Children’s Hospital. The amount will be doubled by the Hunter Foundation, GlasgowLive reports.
In memory of her brother, she has also set up Another Star in the Sky – a charity that raises money for Glasgow Children’s Hospital.
Mariya’s love for her brother and determined efforts to make a change have made her parents proud.
Sameena, 45, told GlasgowLive, “She started fundraising when she was seven.
“Losing her brother three weeks before eight birthday means she has had to grow up really fast. We are very proud she has done this but we just wish it was under different circumstances.
“Maybe if Ahmar would have survived they’d be doing this together but this is her way of coping with things. She wants to help others and make sure her brother’s memory lives on.”
Mariya’s incredible efforts over the years have been acknowledged and honoured by JustGiving, an online fundraising platform. The teenager stood out among a pool of 13,000 individuals and was chosen as a finalist for the GoCardless JustGiving awards. The panel of judges responsible for this selection included radio DJ Haywood-Williams, actress Angela Griffin, Caroline Jones who is a well-known fundraiser famous for wearing a charity shop outfit every day for a whole year, and Pascale Harvie, the general manager of JustGiving.
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