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Month-old baby with hydrocephalus evacuated from Sinabung red zone
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A field of flowers is seen in Simpang Empat regency, around 8 kilometers from Mount Sinabung in Karo, North Sumatra. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
R
, a 40-day-old baby, was sleeping at the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Sari Mutiara Hospital in Medan, North Sumatra. Born to a poor couple living in the red zone of Mount Sinabung in Namanteran village, Karo regency, R suffers from hydrocephalus since he was born.
“When I was pregnant, I did not drink milk or take vitamins. I could only get an ultrasound diagnosis when the pregnancy had progressed to nine months. The doctor told me the baby’s head was abnormal,” Wati, the baby’s mother, told The Jakarta Post at the hospital on Thursday.
“I begged God to do whatever was best for my child,” said the 39-year old laundress and farmhand.
Her 42-year-old husband Bayudin also works as a farm laborer. He could not accompany Wati to the hospital, as he had to work and take care of their other five children in Namanteran.
Wati had tried to bring R to the Adam Malik Hospital in Medan, but she was rejected, "because there was no available room."
“I brought R back to Namanteran. I was advised to bring him back to Adam Malik on Aug. 8, but at that time Sinabung erupted and thick ashes were covering the village, so I could not get out of the home,” she said.
Read also: Seven toddlers in Sarolangun regency found malnourished
R's story was heard by Dr. Tuahman Purba, who owns the Sari Mutiara hospital, where R was then treated and underwent surgery.
“The operation went well, but we are not sure whether [R] can totally recover," hospital director Tahim Solihin said. (bbs)
