Long Ride for Treatment: Jannat doing better after surgery

The condition of seven-month-old Jannat has improved significantly after her surgery at Rangpur Medical College Hospital, where she reached after a 110km ride on her father's battery-run rickshaw on Saturday.

Talking to The Daily Star at RMCH yesterday, Mahfuzul Haque Manik, a paediatric surgeon of the hospital, said the hour-long surgery was conducted Monday afternoon, led by him.

He said the intestine of the child was tangled, which was the key reason for her flood dysentery.

Doctors had decided to carry out the operation after it was confirmed through various check-ups.

Sultana Begum, the child's mother, said her daughter's condition has improved, and her blood dysentery has already stopped.

While visiting the hospital yesterday, this correspondent found the child on a bed at post-operative room of paediatric ward.

Tarek Islam, the father, said he got massive responses from philanthropists across the country after this newspaper ran a report on their rickshaw journey to Rangpur from Thakurgaon.

Even, an anonymous person from Dhaka has paid all the expenses of his daughter's surgery, said the father.

Besides the philanthropists, deputy commissioners of Rangpur and Thakurgaon also enquired about the treatment progress of his daughter and assured him of all kinds of medical support for his daughter.

Tarek, a father of three daughters, said he admitted his youngest daughter to Thakurgaon General Hospital on April 13 when she had severe blood dysentery. As doctors did not see any improvement of her condition, they referred her to RMCH next day.

The father, a rickshaw puller in Thakurgaon town, said he tried his best to arrange an ambulance to take his daughter Jannat to RMCH, but failed as the charge was beyond his cash in hand. Besides, there was no alternative arrangement due to the countrywide lockdown.

"Finally, I took the handle of my rickshaw to take her to RMCH," said the father.

Tarek started his 110km journey early Saturday morning. It took him around nine hours to reach the hospital in Rangpur. "I never visited Rangpur before, and it was new to me and my family," he said.

He added that the battery of his rickshaw died halfway into their journey. Later, another easy-bike driver helped him pull his vehicle for 10km. Fort the rest of the road, the rickshaw needed either push or pull to reach the hospital, he said.

"We are now quite happy as my daughter is recovering," said Tarek, thanking the people's support and the doctors.