QUETTA: For the family of Shahida Raza, the Pakistani ex-hockey player feared to be among the scores of migrants who drowned in southern Italy this week, the continues to wait for her body is piling on the agony.
Shaida Raza was one of the key players in international championships with Pakistan’s women’s hockey team in 2012 and 2013 and was once called the “linchpin” of the team.
But a series of tragedies in the last couple of years left her desperately seeking the money and opportunity to find life-saving treatment for her three-year-old minor kid, who was diagnosed with the condition that causes paralysis.
All options for her in Pakistan were exhausted when she left her son at home and made her way legally to Turkey in 2022; her family told AFP.
Last Sunday, Shahida boarded the ill-fated wooden boat having some 150 passengers on board on the deadliest central Mediterranean migrant route.
Her elder sister Sadia Raza told AFP the previous day that Shahida was constantly in touch with the family, and she even spoke to her at 6:30 on Sunday morning, around an hour or so before the tragic incident adding that Shahida told her that she was fine and on a boat.
The overloaded boat broke up and sank in stormy seas, with bodies, shoes, and debris floating along the shoreline. About 70 people are confirmed dead.
Her family members said that the body of Raza was identified using photographs and a necklace that was still around her neck.
They have yet to get an official statement about her death from authorities in Pakistan or Italy or the repatriation of her body.
The tragedy with family of former hockey player
Shahida’s sister said that the whole family, particularly her old mother, was experiencing agony with every passing day, adding that her fingers traced the dozens of trophies, medals, and team photographs that adorn a cabinet in her home.
Shahida’s marriage suffered a blow in the years following her son’s birth. Her son is now with his father’s family.
Shahida Raza began playing hockey in the year 2003, competing professionally until 2019, when she opted for coaching.
It is still unprecedented for women to play the sport in highly conservative Pakistan, where families often don’t ally their female children.
But Shaida Raza found solace in hockey, away from the troubles faced by her marginalized Hazara community.
The mainly Shia Muslim ethnic minority has suffered from frequent attacks, comprising suicide bombings, by Sunni Islamist militants, especially in the provincial capital Quetta.
“Shahida was a kind-hearted person, jolly, talkative, and always had a smile on her face,” remarked her fellow player Sumiya.
“But the tragedies in her personal life, divorce, son’s illness, and unemployment changed her life. She became silent and wanted to be alone.”
Shahida Raza had appealed to the government and Pakistani sports federation for financial assistance and visited top hospitals in the country; however, doctors replied that there was no treatment available in the country.
Later, Shahida was determined to look at possibilities outside Pakistan to get her son treated,” Sumiya said. – AFP
