14 DAY TRIAL // Arfa Karim Randhawa, the youngest professional at Microsoft, passed away at the age of 16 from complications following an epileptic stroke.
People all around the world, Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates included, grieve after learning that the promising young genius died.
Arfa Karim Randhawa, a computer genius from Faisalabad, Pakistan, became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional at the age of nine in 2004. She kept the title until 2008.
Soon after that, she was invited by Bill Gates to visit Microsoft’s headquarters in the United States. After returning to Pakistan from the visit, television and newspapers in the country rushed to interview her.
In 2005, the President of Pakistan awarded her the Fatimah Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of Science and Technology and the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award. She also received President's Award for Pride of Performance, a civil award that acknowledges people’s excellence in their respective fields.
Arfa Karim Randhawa was a student at the Lahore Grammar School Paragon Campus in her second year of A Levels.
She suffered a cardiac arrest after an epileptic seizure on December 22nd, 2011. She was admitted to Lahore's Combined Military Hospital (CMH) with brain damage and in critical condition.
Bill Gates contacted Arfa's parents and set up a special panel of international doctors to take care of her. They remained in contact with her local doctors through teleconference. Bill Gates offered to pay for the treatment.
Due to her critical condition, she could not be moved. On January 13th, signs of improvement appeared. However, she died on January 14th, 2012, at 9:50 PM (Pakistan Standard Time).
The funeral prayers of Microsoft’s youngest professional were offered at Al Khalid Mosque in Cavalry Ground on Sunday. She was buried in her village.
On the same day, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced that the Lahore Technology Park’s name would be changed to Arfa Software Technology Park.
