Sarabh is four and a half. When he was one and a half, he stuck his right hand in the oven. Oddly enough, he didn't cry, he just left it in and looked at it bewilderedly. His mother had gone to the village well, and a neighbor who was walking by saw Sarabh and pulled his little hand out of the oven.
His father is a truck driver with a nasty drinking habit. He is gone much of the time, and he only leaves Sarabh and his mother a little money to pay for food. There is no way that she could afford reconstructive surgery for her son if Interplast didn't come to town. They went to a government hospital that treats poor patients for only a nominal fee, but the overworked surgeons there said the only option was to amputate his hand. The mother held out, hoping for something better.
The other children in the village play with Sarabh, but they also beat him up frequently because he is different and can't defend himself very well. He doesn't want to go to school because of the mockery he will endure. He is quite a handful, and his mother describes him as stubborn. Although that trait is currently keeping him out of school, it will serve him well after the surgery as he relearns how to use his hand.
Comments