Community Voice
| 04 March 2005 | 21 Phalgun Nanakshahi |
URGENT HELP NEEDED: The Case of Donger Singh
Please donate, even if you cannot give a lot. Your contribution will help Donger Singh directly.
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Port Blair, Andaman Islands - Donger Singh is in dire need of funding for his medical treatment. The incredible and near tragic details of Donger Singh and his sister, Charan Kaur, were discovered by the UNITED SIKHS Tsunami Relief Team in the Nicobar and Andaman islands.
Donger Singh, 35 years of age and the son of an ex-serviceman (deceased) of the Indian Armed Forces resides in Port Blair, and was part of the influx of Indians that were relocated to the Nicobar Islands in 1969. By profession, Donger Singh is a teacher at a government school in Cambell Bay and supports his two sisters and his 65-year-old mother. Mr. Singh was of sound health until the age of 31 years, when due to a malady of the nervous system, he was paralyzed from the waist down.
On the 26th December, when Charan Kaur went to let out their animals for grazing she noticed that the town's people were in a frenzied panic running away from the approaching Tsunami. Charan Kaur quickly hoisted her paralyzed brother on her shoulders and, along with their mother, began to run away from the Tsunami wave. In the process, Charan Kaur and Donger Singh fell in a pit and the Tsunami wave overtook them and both were pushed away into the mountains. Charan Kaur desperately shouted for help, but no one was there to reply or offer assistance. A second surge in the wave ensued and it carried with it barbed wire that deeply slashed Donger Singh's abdomen. Charan Kaur saved her brother by grabbing onto his hair and pulling him to safety. Yet another surge followed, in which all of them were separated. Their clothing was ripped from their bodies by the violence of the Tsunami wave, but despite the overwhelming power of the wave,Charan Kaur climbed uphill and dragged her brother with her. Finding a bed sheet, they covered themselves up and spent the remainder of the day there.
After a brief rest, Charan Kaur took her brother about 3 to 4 km away to a clinic. There, the doctors said that they couldn't possibly take Donger Singh, who was badly injured by this time, to a hospital. Charan Kaur obtained some medication for her brother and requested that her brother be dropped off at the nearest hospital. After a few days of separation from her brother, she met Dr. Harminder Singh, a Navy physician. Dr. Singh with assistance from his commander, was able to transfer Donger Singh to the Naval Hospital in Port Blair named Dhanvantri. Charan Kaur was dropped off in Campbell Bay for a few days, but after repeated requests, she rejoined her brother in the Naval Hospital and stayed with him for 1 month. Donger Singh was under the care of Dr. G.S. Bhatia during his stay. Unfortunately, Donger Singh's case deteriorated rapidly, with his body being replete with bedsores, for which Dr. Bhatia recommended plastic surgery, which was performed and afterwards, Donger Singh was discharged.
Donger Singh and Charan Kaur were without a home after the Tsunami. The Sikhs from the local Gurudwara gave Donger Singh and his sister a room to live in. Charan Kaur has stood firmly by her brother's side, devotedly changing his bandages, as no nurses are available to take care of him. The weather after the Tsunami has become very hot, leading to Donger Singh's bedsores to re-occur and fester like before. He is in desperate need of medication and medical attention. Currently, Donger Singh is scheduled to be treated at the Apollo hospital in Chennai. The sores have become deep enough that the bones are becoming visible. The physicians that have seen Donger Singh have concluded that he needs to be provided a wheel chair, an adjustable bed, and a generator. Along with medications and treatment, Donger Singh's medical bill is a hefty 200,000 rupees for the treatment of his sores.
UNITED SIKHS is making an urgent plea on behalf of Donger Singh and his concerned sister Charan Kaur for financial assistance. Please contribute to this emergency case and ensure the well being of Donger Singh. Charan Kaur has done all she can to save her brother…please donate so that all her efforts have not been in vain.
UNITED SIKHS will update you as we receive reports. For Relief Team updates see:
https://www.unitedsikhs.org/ghanaia/fieldreport.html
Please donate, even if you cannot give a lot. Your contribution will help victims directly.
https://www.unitedsikhs.org/reliefproject.html#donate
You may donate online by clicking above, or by cheque payable to UNITED SIKHS, and mail to a UNITED SIKHS regional office.
For more information on the GHANAIA tsunami project, e-mail us on:
contact@unitedsikhs.org
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