M M Jasim :
Bachchu Bhuiyan and Nazma Begum are happy with the latest condition of their newborn baby, Suraiya, who was hit by a bullet when she was still in her mother’s womb on July 23 in Magura.
Talking to The New Nation on Wednesday in Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, the parents of Suraiya expressed their happiness with smiling faces.
“My daughter’s health is improving. I have been able to breast-feeding her holding in my lap for the first time in 14 days. I saw my baby on Monday for the first time since she was born, but could not hold her on my lap that time. I do not want anything, but my daughter. I am very happy. I have forgotten everything,” Nazma Begum said.
She said, “I thank Almighty Allah at first. I am also very grateful to the doctors as they tried hard to save my daughter’s life. I also thank the government as it has taken all responsibilities of my daughter.”
Nazma has also requested the people to pray for her daughter.
Bachchu Bhuiyan, father of Suraiya, expressed his gratitude to Allah when he heard that his daughter’s condition was improving.
“All people in Bangladesh were concerned after the incident. We were also in tense situation. We prayed to Allah to help my wife and daughter. Allah has responded to my prayers. My wife and daughter are good now. I do not have any word to thank everyone,” Bachchu Bhuiyan said.
He requested the media to call her daughter by Suraiya Begum instead of mentioning her as the bullet-hit girl.
“When the child was not named, she was called bullet-hit girl. But now the media should report her by her actual name,” Bachchu said.
Meanwhile, the doctors of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) told The New Nation that the condition of Suraiya has improved. They hoped that she would survive.
Dr Kaniz Hasina, an Associate Professor of the DMCH Paediatric Department who has been treating Suraiya, said “She has been suffering from jaundice and fluid retention (oedema) in her body. Suraiya’s condition is improving, he said, adding, “We hope we will be able to save her life.”
“We have given the baby in her mother’s lap. She has been suggested to suckle Suraiya. We think she will be all right. If the baby’s condition continues to improve we may shift her to normal ward from NICO by Saturday,” Dr Kaniz Hasina said.
“The child is yet not fully out of danger. But her overall condition has improved,” said Brigadier General Md Mizanur Rahman, Director of DMCH.
Asked if she should be taken abroad for better treatment, he said, “The treatment at our neonatal unit is of international standard. We don’t think she should be sent abroad.”
It may be mentioned that the baby was hit by bullet when her eight-month pregnant mother was shot in the abdomen during an attack by a Jubo League faction on another faction on July 23 in Magura. The incident left one killed and another person injured.
The bullet went through the unborn baby’s right shoulder and damaged her right eye. She survived in a two-hour Caesarean on her 35-year-old mother, Nazma Khatun at Magura General Hospital.
The baby was sent to the DMCH on July 26 without her mother, as her situation was critical.
