Orphan girl in dire straits
POST REPORT
LALITPUR, Feb 26 - Nisha Lama, 20, an I Com second-year student at Janabhawana Campus in Chapagaon is undergoing a lot of suffering. A resident of Shankhamul VDC-7, Lama is battling for her life. She has a chronic heart problem.
She lost her father when she was a child, while Maoist rebels killed her mother, Gaurimaya Lama, a social worker, after abducting her on May 2004. Presently, Lama stays with her kin?s family, which has two siblings of its own."I developed heart problems since the age of 11. And as I grew up, it got worse," she said. "Mother had dreamt of treating me, but she was killed plunging my whole life in uncertain," lamented Lama.
Medical reports from Sahid Ganga Lal Hospital in Kathmandu, which specializes in heart diseases, states that one of Lama?s valves is impaired and that she has other complications too."Bhawan Koiral, a senior doctor, and his team sometimes try to minimize the cost for treating poor patients by requesting their friends for financial support. But then, the hospital receives several such cases," said Radha Ghimire, a sympathizer who helped Lama to carry out medical check-ups.
"Doctors have calculated the cost for Lama?s operation to be Rs 17,500," she said."Lama?s kin are not that financially sound to treat her," said Ramesh Pandey, Shankhamul VDC secretary.