Three years ago, in the summer of 2019, we began campaigning on behalf of 5-year old Tafida Raqeeb who was fighting for her life in the Royal London hospital following the rupture of an undiagnosed brain aneurysm. 

The doctors said that there was no hope for Tafida and that it would be in her ‘best interests to die and as so often happens in these cases, the hospital took Tafida’s parents to court to end her life. 

As devout Muslims, Tafida’s parents believed passionately in the dignity and sanctity of every human life and though they knew that Taffida’s life would never be the same again, they were nonetheless prepared to fight for the life of their precious little girl.

This is where CitizenGO came in. I became aware of Tafida’s case in July 2019 and immediately set up a petition demanding that the Royal London Hospital gave her a chance.

281,000 CitizenGO members like you and me signed it! 

The day after the petition went live, doctors at Genoa’s Gaslini children’s hospital said that they would be prepared to treat Tafida, but the UK would not allow her transfer, because they claimed, it would be ‘kinder to let her die.’

This was disingenuous - there is a difference between allowing nature to take its course and not treating an incurable progressive disease and actually taking steps to bring about an individual’s death. Tafida would not be ‘allowed to die’, rather she would be removed from the ventilator helping her to breathe and nutrition and fluid would be withdrawn in order to expedite her death. 

As you will remember, in the case of Alfie Evans, this process took 5 days and police barricaded the hospital entrances in order to prevent members of the public from offering assistance, such as breathing masks to help the little boy.

In the run-up to Tafida’s court hearing at the beginning of September 2019, we placed adverts in UK newspapers urging the court to spare her life and let Tafida be transferred to Genoa. 

We also organised a series of rallies and vigils in London and across the world in order to support Tafida’s cause.

The court hearing was a terrible ordeal for Tafida’s parents but they behaved with the utmost courage and dignity. Every day Tafida’a mother took a photograph of her beautiful daughter with her into court and placed it in front of her, in order that everyone could see the life that was at stake.

The hospital’s lawyers did their best to convince the judge that Tafida’s case was hopeless and at one point, in an act of staggering grandiosity even claimed that Tafida’s parents misunderstood their Muslim faith.

Our team attended the court hearing every single day in order to be able to give our 17 million members breaking news on Tafida’s situation and Tafida’s parents expressed their sincere thanks for all of your support. 

3 agonising weeks later, Mr Justice MacDonald released his judgement allowing Tafida to go to Italy to continue her treatment.

On 15th October, the day of Tafida’s release, we organised a balloon release outside the Royal London followed by a press conference with the hospital,  the next day at the Gaslini hospital.

Thanks to YOU, our CitizenGO members we also raised thousands of pounds to help Tafida’s family with their legal, medical and travel expenses. 

Tafida today

A few weeks after Tafida’s transferral to the Gaslini hospital she was weaned off her ventilator and is now able to breathe unassisted and communicate with her parents.  Tafida will be disabled for the rest of her life, but her rehabilitation continues. 

Shelina always said that she was not just fighting this battle for Tafida alone, but for all of the other children who are in a similar position.

Tafida’s situation highlighted the inadequacy of facilities to treat brain-injured children in the United Kingdom. Tafida’s parents also believe that if Tafida had been able to be treated more swiftly, (she was transferred to a number of different hospitals and treatment was delayed), her injuries would not have been as severe.

Tafida’s parents have launched a new charity based in the UK, that aims to raise funds for a £25 million brain injury rehabilitation centre, for children who are rejected for treatment on the NHS. In order words for children like Tafida who hospitals believe would be better off dead.

I attended the launch of this amazing foundation in London and Matteo Fraioli, CitizenGO’s Italian campaigns director, attended the launch of the foundation in the Italian senate, together with Tafida’s doctors. 

As Matteo said in his speech, “Tafida's story is nothing other than the victory of life against the perversion of a society that has lost its foundations.”

We fought together, we prayed together, we hoped together and in the end, we could rejoice together.

As CitizenGO members in the UK are only too aware, there have been many other cases such as those of Charlie Gard, Alfie Evans,  Isaiah Haastrup, Zainab Abbasi and Pippa Knight. Currently, we are campaigning in the UK for 12-year-old Archie Battersbee, who sustained a brain injury only 6 weeks ago, and yet for the past 3 weeks, the hospital has been attempting to end his life.

At  the London launch, Shelina, Tafida’s mother said:

 “Recovery can continue for many years after a brain injury. So why should our children be deprived of this? The notion of ending a life prematurely, based on predicting potential, needs to change and children like Tafida need to be given a chance.”

“As Tafida’s mother, I know first-hand how traumatic this situation is, and I want to give hope in this darkness. 

“There is a severe shortage of paediatric centres in the UK. I want to make sure more children have the same opportunity to fulfil their potential. We want to help to optimise recovery by offering the best therapy available in a purpose-built family-centred rehabilitation centre.

“We want to care for these children. The foundation will become the voice for the voiceless. We have initiated something for these children and need everyone’s support in making this centre a reality. Please let us have this centre for these children so other families don’t have to go through what we have gone through.”

Tafdia’s centre has the backing of both medical experts and politicians. In addition, an amendment is currently going through the UK parliament which would allow parents greater freedom in being able to take their sick children overseas for children.

The case of Tafida Raqeeb acts as a beacon of light in a world of darkness, where children are stripped of their inalienable human rights and treated as nothing more than an encumbrance.

The strength and generosity of CitizenGO members like YOU, contributed to Tafida’s victory. It is in no small measure thanks to your efforts such as signing the petition, attending vigils, your financial generosity and your prayers, that Tafida and her family came through and are now leading the way for other children.

Tafida’s story shows what we can achieve when we stand firm together. It is CitizenGO’s hope that the Tafida Raqeeb foundation will be a turning point for us all in the fight for a world that cares more and more about the values that matter: life, family and freedom, where no individual is discarded.

With thanks for all that you do, 

Caroline Farrow, Matteo Fraioli, Ignacio Arsuaga and all of the team at CitizenGO