The U.S. government is pledging to be flexible in working with the family of a 20-year-old Pakistani man lying in a coma at a Duluth hospital with a soon-to-expire student visa.
A spokesman with the U.S. State Department said Friday that it is not refusing to extend Muhammad Shahzaib Bajwa's visa — pushing back on the hospital's earlier statement that the department "is not renewing Mr. Bajwa's visa."
"We are working closely with the family as they determine next steps, and have ensured that the student remains in status while they work through these difficult decisions," State Department spokesman Mark Thornburg said in a statement.
In fact, Thornburg said, the department helped fly Bajwa's family members to Duluth, where he's been treated at St. Mary's Medical Center since a November car collision with a deer. Bajwa had been studying anthropology and sociology as an exchange student at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
Bajwa's older brother, Shahraiz Bajwa, said earlier this week from Duluth that the family was being pressured to send Shahzaib Bajwa back to Pakistan. He and his mother had worried that Shahzaib wouldn't survive the 24-hour flight.
Shahraiz Bajwa, 22, was relieved Friday to hear of the government's statement. "We were assured by the Pakistani consulate in Chicago that they will resolve this issue by Monday or so," Shahraiz Bajwa said. "Then we will have one less thing to worry about."
A spokeswoman for Essentia Health, which runs St. Mary's, said that "it's the first we've heard" that the State Department will ensure that Shahzaib's visa remains valid. "It is great news," Maureen Talarico said by e-mail. She declined to comment on the hospital's plans for Bajwa and whether this would change them.
"Our focus at St. Mary's Medical Center is on the health and care of this patient while he is at our facility," she said. "This includes protecting his privacy."
