Badly injured quake victims languish in Medan<\/p>\n
Dedy Ardiansyah, The Jakarta Post, Medan<\/p>\n
After losing her only son, nine-year-old Dwima Ikbal Lubis, in
\nthe 8.7-magnitude quake that rocked her hometown on Nias Island
\non Monday, Misda Gulo has been warned that she may lose her left
\nhand and foot.<\/p>\n
Being treated at Dr. Pirngadi hospital in Medan with six other
\npatients, the 35-year-old could only lie on her bed. Her head,
\nface and body were covered with dry wounds, while her hands and
\nlegs were wrapped in bandages.<\/p>\n
\"Please tell the doctor not to amputate my hand and leg,\" the
\nwoman, covered in a green sarong, asked The Jakarta Post. \"How
\ncan I keep going after this ...\"<\/p>\n
No relatives were at her side at the hospital, there were only
\nnurses and other patients to offer kind words.<\/p>\n
She said her son had died in her arms after being hit in the
\nhead by a wooden beam as their house was destroyed.<\/p>\n
\"He screamed, but when I spoke to him he didn't reply -- he
\nwas dead,\" Misda said as she burst into tears.<\/p>\n
Misda and four other members of her family had been trapped in
\nthe house, calling out for help.<\/p>\n
\"There was not much else we could do. It was so dark. I could
\nonly cry and scream for help,\" Misda said.<\/p>\n
Help finally arrived on Tuesday at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n
Misda was flown to Medan via a Singapore government Cinook
\nhelicopter and received treatment at Pirngadi hospital two days
\nafter the disaster.<\/p>\n
\"I can still hear my son crying out for me,\" said the woman,
\nwho was still waiting for the doctor's assessment of her
\ninjuries, including her broken leg and hand.<\/p>\n
She was desperate to keep her leg and hand so she could get
\nback to work. Previously, she had sold VCDs at Gunung Sitoli
\nmarket.<\/p>\n
Other survivors, 38-year-old Ishak Zebua and his daughter
\nLisna Zebua, 12, were hospitalized with back injuries after being
\nhit by falling beams.<\/p>\n
Ishak, a Gide district resident, said he would wait until he
\nwas fully recovered before going back to Nias to be with his wife
\nand three daughters.<\/p>\n
Director of Dr. Pirngadi hospital Sjahrial R. Anas, said on
\nFriday that the hospital was treating 28 Nias quake victims,
\nthree of whom have broken bones.<\/p>\n
\"Amputation is a last resort. We hope we can just insert
\npins,\" Sjahrial said.<\/p>\n
The hospital, he said, did not have enough beds to take all
\nquake victims from Nias, forcing it to turn back eight victims on
\nFriday. The eight were then referred to Adam Malik Hospital in
\nMedan.<\/p>\n
\"It's not that we're refusing to treat them. It's just we
\ndon't have much capacity left. If we treat them on the outside,
\nin the hospital's hallway, people will say that we're not being
\nhumane, that we're neglecting the patients,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the hospital simply did not have much capacity because
\nit was still treating dengue fever patients.<\/p>\n
\"At the moment, we can't take Nias quake victims. We can only
\ntake more (new) patients if there are patients who leave,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He also rejected claims that the hospital was reluctant to
\ntake Nias quake victims fearing that payment would be slow, just
\nas it was when they treated victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami.<\/p>\n
So far, the hospital, which treated around 300 tsunami
\nvictims, had only received Rp 6 million (US$631) out of a total
\nRp 300 million that it should have received for treating tsunami
\nvictims.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/badly-injured-quake-victims-languish-in-medan-1447893297",
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