Madhapur: Four-year-old Swayamjit Panda of Madhapur under Athmallick sub-division of Angul district finally got rid of the excruciating pain he was suffering from after a needle got stuck in his buttock for more than a month. A part of the needle came out on its own Thursday and the remaining part was removed surgically.
Family sources said that last month Swayamjit’s father Sitakanta Panda had taken him to Madhapur community health centre (CHC). The child was suffering from cough and fever.
Poonam Hansda, a staff nurse gave an injection on the buttock. However, while withdrawing the syringe, the needle got stuck inside the muscles.
Unable to do anything at that point of time as no doctor was available, Swayamjit and his father returned home. However, Swayamjit started complaining of acute pain in the buttock muscle where the needle had remained. His father brought him back to the CHC to find out if any treatment was available.
The doctor on duty at the CHC, Dr Rahul Garg, however, did not pay much attention to Sitakanta and Swayamjit’s complaint. The doctor, instead sent them back home stating that the pain would subside automatically.
A week later, Sitakanta again went to the CHC reiterating that his son’s pain had become ‘unbearable’. The simple advice he got from the doctor was to ‘rub ice’ on the painful part of the buttock. As news broke regarding the plight of Swayamjit, several local outfits started impromptu agitations. Residents of the locality and family members of Swayamjit held the CHC responsible for his painful predicament.
Relatives of Swayamjit Thursday noticed that a portion of the needle had come out. He was again taken to the Madhapur CHC where the attending physician Atanu Pattanayak referred Swayamjit to Angul district headquarters hospital for surgery.
Relatives, however, took Swayamjit to the Athmallick sub-divisional hospital where he was operated upon and the broken needle pulled out.
Notably, Madhapur CHC has three doctors including an AYUSH medico. Of the three doctors, two are on leave for over a long time. The lone pharmacist was also on leave, Thursday leaving class IV employees to attend to the patients. This also angered the local residents who launched a protest on the hospital premises for sometime.
