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Two regents help child with malformed face, incomplete skull
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Ciamis Regent Iing Syam Arifin (left) and Purwakarta Regent Dedi Mulyadi (second left) visit Oktaviani, a 6-year-old born with a malformed face. She is held by her mother, Tati Nurhayati (right), in Banjarsari, Ciamis, West Java. (Kompas.com/Irwan Nugraha)
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iamis Regent Iing Syan Arifin and Purwakarta Regent Dedi Mulyadi visited a 6-year-old girl, Oktaviani, who was born with an incomplete skull and malformed face in Banjarsari district in Ciamis, West Java.
The regents aim to help the family get proper medical treatment for Oktaviani at Hasan Sadikin Hospital in Bandung, the capital of West Java.
Oktaviani’s mother, Tati Nurhayati, 40, said as quoted by kompas.com that her child could only sit in her arms and was not able to see or walk. She has lumps covering her eyes and her skull in the back of her head had not formed, causing cerebral problems.
“She was born like this. The doctor said she would not survive a week, but Alhamdulillah [thank God] she has grown big,” Tati said Friday.
Because of her malformed face, Oktaviani has to eat through straws.
Tati and her husband, Suryana, have three other children besides Oktaviani. The couple work at a timber factory. She said they had never taken Oktaviani to a doctor, opting for traditional medication instead, which they considered cheaper.
The family lives in a village dozens of kilometers from downtown Ciamis.
Purwakarta Regent Dedi learned of Oktaviani’s condition and reached out to her family. With Regent Iing, they visited Tati’s house.
Oktaviani was sent to Bandung for a check-up. Dedi said they would shoulder all the medical costs for Oktaviani.
“Together we would help with her face surgery, and we can find a team of specialists that can handle such a case. We will find them abroad if necessary,” he said. Dedi said he hoped the public would also help Oktaviani.
Iing said he received reports about Oktaviani from the village authority. He said he appreciated Dedi’s help for a Ciamis family. (evi)
