Joshimath:
Two days after NDTV highlighted the case of 15-year-old Santosh Singh, the Uttarakhand administration has admitted the teenager at a Joshimath hospital.
On May 15, 15-year-old Santosh underwent a major surgery for abdominal tuberculosis. Two weeks after he was discharged on May 29, all hell broke loose as flash floods ravaged the Himalayas. With Santosh's post-operative wound still not healed and the risk of infection very high, Santosh needed urgent medical care. (Read)
However, with Uttarakhand ravaged by the flash floods and victims scrambling for basic necessities, getting specialised post-operative care was not easy.
"He is anemic, malnourished and needs urgent hospitalization," Dr B B Sarkar of the Loknath Mission in Kolkata said, adding, "He needs blood, saline and vitamin shots which is not possible to administer here."
Santosh's family had to abandon their home in Pinola Ghat village, 20 kms from Joshimath in Chamoli district, after their land got washed away by the angry Alaknanda waters. Forced to take shelter at a relief camp, Santosh's poor health could not take the infection rampant in those camps.
It was there that NDTV came across the suffering teenager and informed the local authorities. "This is a critical situation. Since no doctor has reached here, we will go to the village ourselves, " relief worker Monoj Roy said .
A medical team was then sent to check on Santosh who was then taken to a government hospital in Joshimath.
On Monday, Dr Viraj Shah, medical superintendent of Joshimath block, had conceded that they were unaware of Santosh's case even though Pinola Ghat was just 100 metres from the main road and was never cut-off.
"We only got to know about this case through you. We had a medical camp there. But the doctors should have gone down to the village," Dr Shah confessed.
On May 15, 15-year-old Santosh underwent a major surgery for abdominal tuberculosis. Two weeks after he was discharged on May 29, all hell broke loose as flash floods ravaged the Himalayas. With Santosh's post-operative wound still not healed and the risk of infection very high, Santosh needed urgent medical care. (Read)
However, with Uttarakhand ravaged by the flash floods and victims scrambling for basic necessities, getting specialised post-operative care was not easy.
"He is anemic, malnourished and needs urgent hospitalization," Dr B B Sarkar of the Loknath Mission in Kolkata said, adding, "He needs blood, saline and vitamin shots which is not possible to administer here."
Santosh's family had to abandon their home in Pinola Ghat village, 20 kms from Joshimath in Chamoli district, after their land got washed away by the angry Alaknanda waters. Forced to take shelter at a relief camp, Santosh's poor health could not take the infection rampant in those camps.
It was there that NDTV came across the suffering teenager and informed the local authorities. "This is a critical situation. Since no doctor has reached here, we will go to the village ourselves, " relief worker Monoj Roy said .
A medical team was then sent to check on Santosh who was then taken to a government hospital in Joshimath.
On Monday, Dr Viraj Shah, medical superintendent of Joshimath block, had conceded that they were unaware of Santosh's case even though Pinola Ghat was just 100 metres from the main road and was never cut-off.
"We only got to know about this case through you. We had a medical camp there. But the doctors should have gone down to the village," Dr Shah confessed.
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