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Programming prodigy Arfa Karim passes away at 16 in Lahore


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LAHORE: The youngest Microsoft professional, Arfa Karim passes away at the age of 16 in a Lahore hospital on Saturday, DawnNews reported.

Arfa fell desperately ill last month and doctors say she has suffered brain damage, leaving her in a coma at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Lahore.

She was suffering from idiopathic epilepsy seizures which led to brain damage.

The medical experts say the epilepsy can be caused by various infectious and non-infectious diseases but in idiopathic epilepsy no underlying disease of the brain or body can be identified in the early or short investigations.

Arfa became the youngest Microsoft professional after completing her MCP in 2004 at the age of only 9.

Upon completing her course, Microsoft owner Bill Gates invited her to visit the company’s headquarters in the US. Software Development Division Vice President Somasegar also acknowledged her achievement in his blog.

Arfa was studying at the Lahore Grammar School`s Paragon Campus for her A Levels. She also received numerous awards and gold medals from private and government institutions for her achievement.

She received the Fatima Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of science and technology in 2005, besides the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award.

She has also received President’s Award for Pride of Performance. She was invited to Microsoft Headquarters again in November 2006 as a part of the keynote session in the Tech-Ed Developers conference held in Barcelona.

Her funeral will be held at Cavalry Ground Lahore on Sunday, said Arfa’s father.

Arfa Karim talks about her interview with Bill Gates at 10

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This portrait of Arfa at 10 years old.

I’ve pieced together the highlights in this audio file, to provide a better sense for what she was like. One of the most remarkable parts, apart from her recounting the conversation with Gates, is hearing her talk with such authority about developing Windows applications.

http://wherearejohnandtodd.com/arfa.mp3

As you’ll hear at the end, Arfa at 10 years old had also settled on her philosophy of life, and committed it to memory. She told me about it after our interview, when she was having her picture taken outside, so I turned my recorder back on and asked her to repeat it for me on tape.

“If you want to do something big in your life, you must remember that shyness is only the mind,” she said. “If you think shy, you act shy. If you think confident you act confident. Therefore never let shyness conquer your mind.”

I don't know her, but I feel sad after reading this... what a loss for the world...

She sounded very wise in that sound clip(not to mention she was only 10).

RIP :balloon:

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