• THT IMPACT
BAJURA, JULY 25
Basmati Thapa's son Shankar Dadal of Ward No 9, Badimalika Municipality, Bajura, is undergoing treatment in Kathmandu now.
The six-year-old boy, who was suffering from a chronic, festering wound on his leg was stranded at home after his poor parents couldn't afford to take him elsewhere for treatment as required.
Living with his 'never-healing' wound for the past two years, the boy was taken to Kathmandu for treatment with the assistance of an American citizen Justin Flores, who rescued the minor, along with his parents, after reading about his plight in this daily. He has been admitted and is being treated at Medi City Hospital, and according to the hospital, the treatment might last for five months. "After we operated on him successfully, we are now carrying out further treatment," said a doctor.
Shankar's parents had taken him to the district hospital first and then to Bayalpata Hospital seven times, but as he couldn't be treated, the hospital too had asked the parents to take him to a better health facility.
As his poor parents, apparently, could not manage the fund, the patient was obliged to live with the wound. "I don't know what would happen to him had the foreigner not helped us with the treatment," said the father, Dan Bahadur Dadal.
While the father is disabled and can't speak well, the mother is visually impaired and has to be ushered from one place to another by her children. "Earlier, my husband would work and provide for us, but lately after he got disabled, we were having a hard time staying alive," lamented Basmati. The couple has a five-member family.
A version of this article appears in the print on July 26, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
