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Road to recovery

Mymensingh schoolgirl with spinal injury walks again

Md Aminul Islam with Andrew Eagle
When thirteen-year-old Hajera Akhter from Chaurapara village in Mymensingh Sadar upazila fractured her spine in a road accident last November, it seemed all hopes for her life were dashed. Her family couldn't afford her treatment. Thankfully, after her plight was highlighted in a 22 December 2017 report in this newspaper, a multinational offered to fund her recovery. Now Hajera can walk again. She looks set to rejoin her school soon, with renewed zeal to study.
School has always been of particular significance to Hajera. An adept student, she hoped that with a successful education she could help her mentally unwell father and impoverished family. Thus it was particularly harrowing last year when an autorickshaw ploughed into the rickshaw van carrying her and her friends, on their way to sit for the Junior School Certificate exams.
At the time of the accident, Hajera's brothers Aynul and Monsurul Islam were both employed as garment workers, though Aynul had to leave his job to look after his sister. The family tried their best to cover her medical expenses, but it proved beyond their means.
"We sold our goats and chickens and borrowed money," says her mother Safia Akhter. "We spent Tk 50,000 but it didn't help."
Doctors suggested she may need to be treated in India.
Hajera was bedridden at home for over a month without any hope of further treatment. She had bedsores, her future in the hands of fate.
Following The Daily Star's report, the authorities of a multinational company generously came to Hajera's aid. On 27 December 2017 she was admitted to a private hospital in Dhaka where she underwent treat-
ment for a month.
Still on the road to recovery, Hajera can already walk again, with support.
“The doctors gave advice about nutritious food to hasten her recovery," says her brother, Aynul. “We would like to do that but it isn't easy since we have difficulty in general to provide daily meals for our elevenmemberfamily."
Nevertheless Hajera’s confidence in her future has returned. “I am really hopeful that I can return to school soon and meet my friends again. I feel much better and I definitely want to sit for my Junior School Certificate this year. ”
The chairman of the local Char Sirta union council, Saifuddin Ahmed Baku!, says he is regularly updated concerning Hajera's progress and has also taken initiative to offer financial assistance.