Strength comes from within

From the hospital bed on a wheel chair she faced her fourth year undergraduate examination against all odds...

By Rosanne Koelmeyer Anderson

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Time had stood still and tears seemed to have filled an ocean. Almost four and half months have gone by since February 15 when the medical fraternity and many others were left astounded with aching hearts for the attractive third year medical college damsel, Govinnage Don Samitha Samanmalee who suffered a Spinal Cord Crush Injury at the BMICH paralyzing her waist downwards, when the steel bars of a tent came crashing down on her on a rainy evening.

But today, this twenty-five-year-old courageous and resolute undergraduate will always be remembered for transcending all barriers and making history in Sri Lanka by sitting for her fourth year undergraduate examination which commenced on June 30.

Enthusiastic, Samitha was the cynosure of all eyes as she presented herself for the examination on a wheel chair. Victory belongs to the most persevering is true after all. Five days of exam fever was not an easy task to handle Samitha told the Sunday Observer on Wednesday soon after she returned to her spacious room, an unusual sight: scattered all over were books, files and A4 sheets of short notes and even a laptop at Ward No 73 of the National Hospital, Colombo. It is not easy. I feel tired but I shall accomplish my dream, she said smiling as her mother stood by her side weeping.

‘Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance’ and Samitha is certainly a role model for all, for her there was no turning back, her quest to become a doctor was invincible: this incredible feat spurred by her determination and incessant yearning to pursue her medical degree without losing out on any lectures or examinations had been resolved, against all odds.

‘She followed lectures just like her colleagues. She still laughs and jokes like she used to do before her colleagues and her medical team of doctors say. Samitha is strong and optimistic and this has helped her win her battle and come thus far,’ says Dr. Lalith S. Wijayaratne, Consultant Rheumatologist and Head of the Dept of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation too who believes that this is the most magnificent approach and role model for all: doctors and those in similar circumstances.

‘Samitha is courageous and strong willed and this has won half the battle. Society has much to learn from role models like Samitha.

Acceptance and inclusion of those like Samitha into the mainstream would make life meaningful and make them equal partners in the national development process, minimize unwanted dependencies, reduce poverty, promote self-esteem and enhance self-confidence in attending to daily life activities.

Sensitizing society, broadening the horizons of thinking to bridge the gap of differentiation between the ‘abled’ and the ‘not so able’ is absolutely imperative to help progression’, he explained.

Meanwhile, the Medical Rehabilitation team of experts handling Samitha’s condition comprises two dedicated trained nurses, a physiotherapist, clinical psychologist, the national trainer for spinal cord rehabilitation assisting Dr Lalith Wijayaratne spend much time in the afternoons with Samitha who has shown considerable progress during the past four months.

Dr Wijayaratne said Samitha had gradually gained sitting balance since mid May by which time she started attending Ward rounds. Her sitting balance is improving and we are happy with the progress she has shown. We will be setting out a long term rehabilitation plan for her.

We cannot put a time frame to it but the main thing is that she is improving. Our main concern is to do everything possible to enable Samitha proceed with her education, Dr Wijayaratne added. Meanwhile, Samitha is contemplating on the possibility of going abroad for stem cell transplant.

Moreover, Samitha proudly says she has even started clinicals and gone through with two appointments; one in neurology and the other in dermatology. ‘It’s a new experience. It was something very special to me and I am enjoying every bit of it,’ she says not withstanding her daily routine of Ward rounds from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and her medical rehabilitation sessions in the afternoons.

Although the whole schedule sounded very tiresome even for a physically abled person, Samitha seemed to have no worries about her busy schedule. She shook her head confidently and said ‘it is interesting and I am happy that I’m being incorporated into the daily routine of work in the hospital.

It is anyway part of my work for the medical degree. I do it and then rest for a while and keep doing all what I have to do she adds beaming.’ What crossed my mind was what Winston Churchill said ‘We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give’; probably what may have been in Samitha’s mind too.