Acehnese girl all smiles after doctors remove bullet from her brain<\/p>\n
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post\/Tangerang<\/p>\n
Acehnese girl Marlina, 16, was all smiles on Friday, days after a
\nteam of doctors successfully removed a bullet that had been
\nlodged in her brain since July 2004.<\/p>\n
Doctors at the Siloam Gleneagles Hospital in Karawai, Banten,
\nsaid that the high school girl should be able to return home in
\ntwo weeks.<\/p>\n
\"I feel relieved now. I no longer get constant headaches now
\nthat the bullet has been taken from my head,\" Marlina said to The
\nJakarta Post at the hospital on Friday.<\/p>\n
It was about 11 a.m. on July 8 last year when Marlina and her
\nelder sister Sukarni, 18, were cooking lunch in the kitchen
\nbehind their house in Tanjung Beuridi village, Mantang Geumpang
\nDua district, Bireun, 257 kilometers from Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, a clash between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and
\nmembers of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) broke out near their
\nhouse.<\/p>\n
\"Our mother told us to run into the house and we did it. But,
\nMarlina went out again to get something and as she was coming
\nback in she suddenly fell to the ground and fainted,\" said
\nSukarni, who attended to Marlina at the hospital. The family then
\nrealized that a stray bullet had struck the girl.<\/p>\n
In a desperate condition, Marlina was rushed to the nearest
\ncommunity health center. But the health center then transferred
\nher to Cut Nyak Dien Hospital in Lhokseumawe, which then referred
\nher to a hospital in Banda Aceh, where she was again transferred
\nto Adam Malik Hospital in Medan.<\/p>\n
In Medan, doctors said that if they operated on Marlina she
\nwould likely die from blood loss. An X-ray showed that the bullet
\nhad lodged in the girl's cerebellum.<\/p>\n
\"There was no solution, maybe because we were poor and could
\nnot afford to pay for the surgery,\" said Sukarni, adding that the
\nfamily had to borrow Rp 35 million (US$3,500) just to send
\nMarlina to Medan.<\/p>\n
Her family brought Marlina back to Aceh with the bullet still
\nembedded in her head. She suffered constant headaches throughout
\nthe day.<\/p>\n
\"When the pain strikes, it really hurts. I take painkillers
\nregularly to neutralize the pain,\" Marlina said at the time.<\/p>\n
With the pain, Marlina, a third-year student at Tanjung
\nBeuridi Junior High School, could barely concentrate on her
\nlessons.<\/p>\n
After reading Marlina's plight in the Post last Oct. 12, the
\nSukma Foundation, which is owned by the Media Group, and the
\nIndonesian Brain Foundation managed to track her down and took
\nher to Jakarta last Nov. 11.<\/p>\n
A team of doctors led by Dr. Eka J. Wahjoepramono of the
\nSiloam Gleneagles Hospital in Karawaci managed to remove the 1.5-
\ncentimeter-long, 3-millimeter-diameter projectile from the back
\nof her back brain last Monday.<\/p>\n
\"Thanks to The Jakarta Post for publishing Marlina's story. By
\nreading the article, we managed to find and help her,\" said Dewi
\nMalarangeng of the Indonesian Brain Foundation.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/acehnese-girl-all-smiles-after-doctors-remove-bullet-from-her-brain-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}