Actor Pooja Dadwal after battling tuberculosis for the past five months was discharged yesterday from the Sewri TB hospital much healthier and weighing 20 kgs heavier. Dadwal starred alongside Salman Khan in Veergati in 1995, weighed only 23 kgs when she was admitted in the hospital in March. Her case received a lot of media attention as her family had abandoned her, later Salman stepped in to lend a helping hand for her treatment.

Both her lungs were infected and she was facing major difficulties in breathing and was on continuous oxygen support for almost two months. Salman’s Being Human foundation intervened to help her in her treatments after her conditions and financial struggle came to the fore.

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[caption id="attachment_112108" align="aligncenter" width="638"] CC: Salman Khan FC[/caption]

Dr. Lalit Anande, medical superintendent of the hospital who treated her told a leading daily, “Pooja fought this deadly bacteria only because of her willpower. When I first met her in the ward, she told me, ‘I want to walk again, please do something so that I can stand on my feet and walk again’”.

Pooja, on the other hand, is really thankful to be discharged from the hospital and gaining back her health, she applauded Salman’s organization too. She told the leading daily, “I can’t describe how I am feeling. When I was hospitalized on March 2, I thought I was going to die there - bedridden in a corner of that depressing ward. My family and friends had abandoned me. I gave up all hope after the doctors told me that my lungs were severely affected. Incessant coughing and breathlessness had left me weak. And I saw so many like me, dying all alone – their friends and family, like mine, had deserted them. But then I decided that I don’t want to end up like that. I decided to fight, to not let the disease win. Yes, one of the side-effects of tuberculosis is social rejection but I am really thankful to Salman Khan who lent me the support. From clothes to soaps, diapers, food, medicines, his foundation took care of everything. If I survived the ordeal, it is only because of him.”