Arfa Karim became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional at 9, and has now passed away after spending 26 days in hospital.

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According to News Pakistan, Arfa Karim, the world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional, has passed away in hospital.

On December 22nd, the technological prodigy suffered from an epileptic seizure and went in to cardiac arrest, resulting in a coma from that moment.

Arfa passed away yesterday in Lahore, Pakistan, at only 16.

Although Pakistan is not generally associated with technological advances, Arfa revealed herself as a future star before her 10th birthday. By the time she was nine, she had mastered technologies that many years her senior struggled to grapple with — resulting in the award of becoming the world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional at a mere age nine.

In 2005, aged 10, she met Bill Gates whilst on a Microsoft campus visit after the Microsoft chairman acknowledged and took an interest in the the young girl’s rare display of talent. Not only that, Arfa received certification and permission to fly a plane through Dubai in the same year for a flying club.

Arfa was also conferred by the Pakistan Government for the Fatimah Jinnah Gold Medal in the field of science and technology, presented to her by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan. In the same year, she also received the Salaam Pakistan Youth Award, and Presidential Award for pride of Performance.

As a cherished talent in both the Pakistani and international community, her loss will no doubt be cast with regret.

After passing away at such a young age, we are left to wonder what this young girl could have achieved within an IT and technology industry in which she obviously had such talent for.