In a tragic accident, nine-year-old Padma Bhattacharya’s left forearm was amputated in a private hospital, after she suffered severe electric burns due to accidental contact with high voltage cables last Monday.
Padma was skipping with an iron chain, when it accidently slipped out of her hand and got entangled in the electricity cable running parallel to the house. While trying to free herself, Padma received severe shocks as the transformer blew, cutting power in the area. A Class IV student of Sri Venkateshwara English High School, Padma said she was playing with the family dog and a couple of friends on the terrace of her grandmother’s house (at KR Puram), when the incident occurred at around 12 noon.
Her aunt and relatives rushed her from one hospital to the other. Four hospitals even refused to admit her, said her father, Debanjon Bhattacharya, a labourer who works in VRKP Steels Private Limited.
Finally she was admitted to KR Hospital in Hanumanthnagar, where her left forearm was first operated on. The plastic surgeon who is treating her, Dr Deepak K L said, “She received severe burns on her left upper limbs and her back. During the first surgery, her left upper limb was amputated at the forearm level and on May 11 we had to amputate above her elbow.”
More surgeries
She would need a minimum of two more surgeries and we would probably have to amputate up to her shoulder, he added. Three months after the amputation, artificial upper limb processes will be necessary for rehabilitation of the patient, said Dr Deepak.
The surgeries are estimated to come up to Rs 1.5 lakh and the artificial limb processes will cost another Rs 2 lakhs revealed the doctor — a bitter pill to swallow for the family.
And, now they are looking forward to financial help from the public. Bhattacharya is available on 9986110718.