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Sunday, 10 February 2013

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Following amputation of left arm:

Achala all out to succeed in life



A determined Achala Priyadharshani

She was truly an epitome of courage. Her current plight can be described in myriad ways - destiny, medical negligence, carelessness and fate to name a few.

But her unwavering determination to complete the journey she began over three years ago - to be a qualified lawyer, a pride to her destitute family and mostly to stand on her own, merits accolades of all. She is a rolemodel by all means to our modern day youngsters.

Achala Priyadharshani (23) faced one of the most brutal experiences a young girl could face: Losing a hand at the prime of her life, and that too in an alleged case of medical negligence, (this matter is under investigation now by a three member panel appointed by the Health Ministry Secretary) should surely render her into a state of hopelessness and make her feel resigned to her fate, but showered by the warmth and continued support of her peers at the Law Faculty and others who showed compassion, she has new courage to face a future without fear.

Achala plans to sit for her final law exam in June. Despite her predicament without the use of her 'left hand' (Achala is a left hander), she is impatient to get home and prepare for this final hurdle.

Achala’s father K. Sugathadasa Achala’s brother Dharshana Tillekeratne

Her Faculty has permitted Achala to use the services of a typist to take down her answers since it is too late for her to train her right hand to write and do the things she used to do with the amputated hand.

"Something terrible happened. It was neither something I expected nor anything I could have avoided. But now I have to look to the future," Achala says with determination.

All that happened to her is like a nightmare. She was admitted to Matara hospital after suffering a fracture in her left hand in an accidental fall at her home. The doctor in charge applies a Plaster of Paris (POP) cast on her hand.

She complains of severe pain even after the treatment, and is given strong pain killers. Then she was transferred to National Hospital Colombo. The sequence of events up to this is like an episode from a horror movie.

External Affairs Minister Prof G. L. Peiris, Namal Rajapaksa MP and officials talk to
Achala

A batchmate close at hand

Batchmates of Achala, the regular visitors

The most tragic incident in her life happens hereafter. The doctors at the NHC decide that her left hand from the elbow down needs to be amputated. For some reason, the nerve cells under the POP cast have died. Doctors explain that to save Achala's life, the forearm had to be amputated. Finally doctors remove her hand from the elbow down.

We could only guess what her thoughts would have been when doctors broke the news to her. She may have craved for her mother's consoling warmth.

But to give wings to her precious daughter's dreams her mother had flown to Jordan and at that very moment was 'keeping a house' in a land distant from her own.

During the 'visiting time' her bed in the ward No 64 at the NHC is surrounded by not just close relatives but schoolmates, village friends, teachers, law faculty lecturers and her close buddies from the Law Faculty. Like a flock of swans her campus friends shielded and consoled her during the worst of her nightmare. During the day time, the friends still take turns by her bedside.

Achala's friends have set up a fund, 'Hand for Achala - Justice for Negligence' to raise funds to buy a high-tech artificial limb. They don't want her to feel handicapped and lost. Such is their true friendship.

She said, "The President has pledged that I will be given an electronic arm and I am grateful for that". He has promised to support her throughout her education and will find an artificial arm from a country where technology in this field is far advanced.

Achala was fortunate that her tragic story received wide coverage in the media. Many of such cases go unreported and unnoticed, sometimes due to power and influence of the people involved. Many important personalities including Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe visited Achala in hospital.

External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris and MP Namal Rajapaksa were among those who called on her to assure justice if there is even a trace of medical negligence involved in her case. The External Affairs Ministry has reportedly promised to intervene and help her mother to return to be near her daughter in this moment of need.

"Amma will definitely be here by Sunday or Monday," she says, brimming with hope.

Achala's father K. Sugathadasa and only brother Dharshana Tillekeratne take turns to visit her twice a day. Since her father's income from a small plot of 'tea-land' is insufficient, her mother had flown to Lebanon as an unskilled worker some years back. Her last visit to Sri Lanka and her family in Urubokka (Matara District) was in 2011.

"My daughter is very brave and she is very clever. She will pass her final exam with flying colours. I know she is determined to do that," Sugathadasa says with tears in his eyes.

Let's give Achala all our blessings to reach her ultimate goal and be a courageous daughter of Mother Lanka.

- MF

 

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