After clinging to his mother’s body, Shoaib gets love hug from Phoenix

HYDERABAD: Moved by the heart-wrenching story of a five-year-old boy sleeping next to his mother’s body at Hyderabad’s Osmania Hospital, US citizen V Sridevi flew in all the way from Phoenix on Saturday, only to give little Shoaib a ‘motherly’ hug. The two met at the city’s Shamshabad airport and spent 45 minutes together as she showered the boy with gifts, chocolates, clothes and lots of hugs.
“It was a very touching sight.Shoaib had no clue where he was being taken and when gifted with a remote-controlled car, his eyes lit up. The two couldn’t, however, communicate too much because Sridevi’s Hindi isn’t fluent. But the love and affection was obvious,” said Mujtaba Hasan Askari, president of the NGO — Helping Hand Foundation (HHF) — that facilitated the meeting.

The boy’s heart-rending tale came to light last month when he was photographed lying next to his mother, Sameena Sultana — dumped at the hospital by her live-in partner — blissfully unaware that she was dead. The 36-year-old had suffered a cardiac arrest.
Soon after, Sridevi established contact with Helping Hand and expressed interest in meeting Shoaib and even funding his education.
“She got in touch with us right after the news went viral. And she has been requesting us to arrange a meeting with the boy. She even made prior enquiries about the clothes size of Shoaib and his cousins who are staying with him. She did not want other kids in the family to feel left out,” said Askari.
After her joyous meeting, Sridevi continued her journey to Visakhapatnam — her hometown.
Much like her, there are several other women from across the globe — US, Australia and even the Middle East — who have been reaching out to the foundation, showering love and opening up their purses to help him in any which way possible. The NGO, till date, has received close to 300 calls.
“Several good samaritans, especially women with children of the same age, have donated money for the HHF fund-raiser for Shoaib. The funds collected so far ( 1 lakh) will be used for his upkeep and schooling, which will commence from June. However, there are dubious callers who express interest in adopting Shoaib. But the boy has settled down with his uncle’s family and they are unwilling let go of him, so there is no question of adoption,” said Askari.