Eddie Whitham races against the Taliban to save 'daughter' from Kabul chaos

Mr Whitham, who runs Multicultural Tamworth, in NSW's north east, met Mitra in the waiting lounge of a Dubai airport when she was 23, five years ago.

She flew back to Afghanistan to run a women's charity. He returned to Tamworth.

"Then out of the blue some weeks later, she emailed me and asked me would would I be her father, as her father and mother were killed by the Taliban. Her brother disappeared crossing into Iran. I said I would," Mr Whitham said.

"One night three years ago, she emailed me with just a few words: 'take me from this bloody place'.

"She had been at a women's hospital. The Taliban had rocketed and killed the women and many children. Then some of her friends lost limbs. Some disappeared."

Years of effort to get her a visa to Australia failed. Mr Whitham said she was rejected as "too qualified".

"She could have been amazing here, especially with helping migrants. She's also so adept and able to do things and just wants to be a part of people. We just thought we'd look after her and that's what we're going to do," he said.

Like hundreds of thousands of others Mitra is now trapped in Kabul and fears for her life, as the misogynistic religious extremists of the Taliban take over the country.

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Mr Whitham has spent sleepless nights this week trying to get her a visa and plane tickets to any country that will have her, anywhere in the world.

As both a member of Afghanistan's Hazara ethnic minority - a group the Taliban have systematically persecuted for decades - and a women's educator, she is doubly a target.

"Two nights ago she sent an email to say not to call her, she will be dead soon as the Taliban will kill or steal the women and abuse them," Mr Whitham said.

"Last night [Monday], I decided to ring her. The phones were dead so I emailed and she answered. She told me she would surely die if she could not escape."

Mr Whitham managed to contact the Dutch Legation after both the US, and UN proved useless. He didn't even bother with the Australian immigration or diplomatic agencies.

But getting her to safety might mean a permanent life in the Netherlands. Mr Whitham may never see her again.

"I'd love for her to be here, I'd love her to be part of our family," he said.

"I've just known her as a young lady wanting to do things and I feel her as my daughter."