Post News Network
Cuttack: A 13-year-old boy admitted to SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) here with 70 per cent burns is battling for his life.
The boy’s left arm has become infected and may need to be amputated, said Dr Y Tejkumar of the surgery department. With the boy suffering from septicaemia and his condition deteriorating, doctors of anesthesia and orthopedic departments are likely to operate upon the minor boy Monday, said hospital sources.
The boy was referred from Keonjhar district headquarters hospital to SCBMCH December 25. He is fighting a lone battle at bed No. 32 of the surgery department at SCBMCH since then. While Keonjhar Childline has appointed an attendant to look after the boy, Sevak, a social outfit, is supplying blood needed by the boy. Many social activists held the Keonjhar district headquarters hospital authorities responsible for the boy’s worsening condition. “Although he was admitted to Keonjhar DHH 13 days before being admitted to SCBMCH, the DHH authorities evidently did not provide him proper treatment,” alleged social activist Deepak Acharya.
Keonjhar Childline coordinator Avinash Jena said efforts are on to ascertain the boy’s identity. “The hospital register says the child is from Nalda village under Barbil police limits. We are yet to find his grandmother with whom he was living after losing his parents,” said Jena, adding that it is yet to be ascertained how the boy sustained the burns and who brought him to the DHH.
At Keonjhar DHH, where the boy was admitted December 13, his name is mentioned as Kanda Munda of Nalda village of Barbil police limits. Childline members had brought him to SCBMCH, where treatment is being provided to him free of cost, said SCBMCH emergency officer Bhubanananda Moharana.
Social activist Deepak Acharya Sunday evening lodged a complaint against the chief medical officer of Keonjhar at Malglabag police station. Inspector-in-charge Arun Kumar Swain, however, asked Acharya to lodge a complaint in Keonjhar as that area was not under the jurisdiction of his police station.