Dear People, with Love and Care, Your Doctors by Debraj Shome

Author:Debraj Shome
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Dear People,

‘Burn injury is a huge public health problem. In fact, more people die of burn injuries in India than malaria and tuberculosis.’

Pragya Prasun Singh

Scarred, Survived and Succeeded

I had a troubled childhood marred by sexual abuse. During those years, the only person I felt close to was my maternal grandfather. He was my pillar of strength and the one I have numerous fond memories with. However, my association with him was short-lived. When I was about to enter college, he suffered a massive stroke. It was heartbreaking to see him in such a miserable condition. The stroke left him paralysed and he could neither talk nor walk on his own. I devoted myself to his care during his entire treatment and helped with his physiotherapy for the next year. During that time, I matured as a person and realised that I could think beyond my personal trials. I found out that I was capable of taking care of my loved ones and that taking care of others dulled my own pain.

When I was 23 years old, I graduated with a degree in fashion management and got married to a boy of my parents’ choice. Two weeks after my marriage, I was going to attend a campus placement interview at my college in Delhi but that same evening, my beloved grandfather passed away. I was reluctant to leave and wanted to be with my parents but they persuaded me to attend the interview. As per tradition, a newly-wed could not attend a funeral. Probably, I should not have listened to them and stayed back as no one could have imagined what lay in store for me that ill-fated night.

I was on a train to Delhi and around 2 am, I was jolted out of my sleep. I was in immense agony as I fell from the berth, only to realise that my whole body was blazing like an inferno. It felt like I was on fire. I lost consciousness. After many days, when I finally opened my eyes, I saw that I had been doused with acid by a heartless coward who wanted to marry me but my parents had not agreed. For 17 days, I swung between life and death in the ICU of the burn ward in a hospital in New Delhi. I had sustained 47% burns and acid fumes had penetrated into my lungs. Even the doctors had very little hope that I would make it.

Once my condition stabilised, I was shifted to the burns ward where I spent the next three months. In those three months, I witnessed many patients entering the burns ward screaming and leaving silently, shrouded in white. Every day, I saw different kinds of burn cases and heard stories which shook me from inside. Night after night, I heard the painful screams of other patients and sometimes the sounds of crying relatives, whose loved ones had lost the battle of life. I just could not comprehend why doctors were not able to save these patients.

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