POLLACHI:
For the eleven-year-old Shanthini, it was like rebirth. A daughter
of a poor autorickshaw driver, she suddenly lost hearing six months
ago because of high fever. Her parents lost their hope of restoring
her hearing.
They were all smiles on Saturday.
Efforts of a team of dedicated doctors, who successfully performed
a surgery on her for cochlear implant brought back to her the sound
and fury of life.
The cost of the surgery, Rs.
6 lakh, was raised by forming a trust.
Dr. V. Anand, the director
of the cochlear implant programme of MCV Memorial ENT Trust Hospital,
said Shanthini was a normal school going child till six months ago.
"The appeal given by her
was posted on our website and we circulated a compact disc carrying
her appeal among many persons. That evoked good response,'' he said.
Alankar Group of Companies,
Karur-based Atlas Exporters, GRG Trust, Sakthi Group of Companies
and Ramraj Cottons were the major donors. More than 200 other donors
from all walks of life contributed.
"I requested all my patients
to help poor children instead of paying my fee. Most of them responded
positively by contributing three to four times of my charges,''
said Dr. Anand.
The trust has helped another
six-year-old child, Damodharan, who suffered from partial deafness
since his birth. Cochlear implant was performed on him a month ago
and 40 per cent of the expenses was met by the trust.
Dr. K. Thangamuthu, vice-president
of Indian Medical Association, Tamil Nadu, gave external speech
processors to the parents of the children during the Ninth ENT Live
Surgical Workshop held here on Saturday.
The Coimbatore District Collector,
Neeraj Mittal, interacted with several patients who have undergone
the cochlear implant surgery.
The equipment receives signals
from outside in the form of radio waves and is not connected by
wires. The stimulator is kept inside the hair using a powerful magnet.Dr.
Anand said that eight poor children were awaiting the surgery.
It will be performed as soon
as the trust gets enough money.
For details phone: +0091-
4259 - 225122, 223502, 9843396 99650, 98433 99651.
