New hope for deformed girl
Born with a giant tumour, Simaria was rejected by her parents – but now surgery has given her a fresh start
IT’S a heartbreaking tale with a happy ending. A teenage girl with a severe facial deformity that saw her shunned by her family has been plucked from the streets of India, where she was living as an outcast, and given a new lease of life. Simaria Singh (15) was rescued by Rajesh Shukla (43), a children’s rights activist, who was shocked to find her late last year begging on the streets of Khandwa, a city in central India.
He took her to a hospital in nearby Indore where doctors removed the tumour that had blighted her life – a whopper of a growth weighing more than 2,26kg. The surgery cost £1 700 (more than R28 000) but surgeons did the operation at no charge.
“This is nothing short of a miracle,” Rajesh said afterwards. “She’s extremely happy and the first question she asked me was if she can get married now.”
Prashant Newalker, one of the neurosurgeons who operated on Simaria, says she had a congenital condition called meningoencephalocele.
“She had a defect in her skull and fluid from her brain leaked through the nasal cavity and formed a tumour at her frontal and nasal bones. Early detection of this condition during pregnancy is possible but it looks as if, in her case, her mother didn’t undergo an ultrasound scan.”
Newalker and his team closed the defect in Simaria’s skull and the prognosis for her future is positive.
“The success rate is very high in such surgeries with only a 1% chance of recurrence of the cyst,” he says. “We’re hopeful she’ll lead a healthy life now.”
But Simaria likely will need further surgery to correct her facial disfigurement and help to restore her eyesight.
FOR years Simaria faced ridicule and scorn and other kids refused to eat next to her because of the growth, which deformed her face and left her partially blind in her left eye. Even after Rajesh had rescued her she was kept in a separate room in the children’s home where he worked so she wouldn’t scare the other kids. In counselling sessions Rajesh was horrified to learn her own parents had turned their backs on her. “The girl had been deprived of love and care all her life and was compelled to leave her home in October due to constant taunts by her parents. For two months she was begging on the streets for food.”
He says he offered to pay doctors £600 (R10 000) towards her surgery but they insisted on doing it free of charge.
Rajesh has since been in touch with Simaria’s parents who now want her back.
The family is extremely poor, he says. Her father, Jagannath Singh, is a labourer who works for a daily wage while her mother, Mudra Devi, stays at home and looks after their seven other children.
“We’re hoping to keep Simaria with us until she’s completely well and then we’ll leave the decision up to her. If she wishes to continue living with us, the children’s home will happily accept her.” SOURCES: DAILY MAIL, US SCIENTECH, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES