Minus leg, Nurlaili faces tough life<\/p>\n
Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post\/Banda Aceh<\/p>\n
Nurlaili, 20, has barely smiled since the tsunami catastrophe on
\nDec. 26 last year, when she lost her right leg. The resident of
\nLhok Nga district in Aceh Besar regency, is among thousands of
\nAcehnese who are adapting to life as a physically disabled
\nperson.<\/p>\n
\"I never dreamed of something like this happening, but I have
\nto accept the reality,\" said Nurlaili during an interview in the
\nLamlhom displaced persons shelter, some 12 kilometers west of
\nBanda Aceh city.<\/p>\n
Largely dependent on her three brothers, Nurlaili said she was
\nunable to do anything for anyone -- and could only manage to feed
\nherself.<\/p>\n
\"If I want to go to the toilet, for example, I have to be
\nsupported by my brothers,\" said Nurlaili.<\/p>\n
Before she lost her leg, she earned money as a babysitter. Her
\nfamily, who barely earned enough to survive before the
\ncatastrophe, could not afford to put her through school, so she
\nquit after junior high school.<\/p>\n
Now, after losing her leg, she is desperately worried about
\nher future. \"Who will accept a disabled person like me?\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Nurlaili lost her leg because of delayed medical treatment.<\/p>\n
Surviving the tidal wave, Nurlaili fled to Lamlhom subdistrict
\nfrom Lampuuk subdistrict, but in Lamlhom she caught her leg on a
\nbarbed-wire fence. She screamed in pain, alerting a stranger to
\nher predicament. He released her leg from the fence and brought
\nher to a nearby medical post.<\/p>\n
She was then brought to a military hospital in Banda Aceh, but
\nit was too late: the wound was festering. The military hospital
\ngave up and suggested that Nurlaili be taken to Adam Malik
\nHospital in North Sumatra. Escorted by her little brother,
\nZulfikar, Nurlaili flew to Adam Malik Hospital on January 5
\naboard a Hercules military airplane.<\/p>\n
Given the severity of her wound, doctors at the hospital
\ndecided to amputate Nurlaili's leg a few centimeters below her
\nknee. The drastic measure was taken to save her life.<\/p>\n
Nurlaili was in hospital for 80 days, where she was fitted
\nwith an artificial leg.<\/p>\n
Nurlaili returned to the shelter in Lamlhom subdistrict where
\nshe is living with her three brothers. They live modestly as food
\nand other aid is hard to come by. The area is considered unsafe
\nas it has been prone to armed conflicts between the Indonesian
\nMilitary and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).<\/p>\n
\"We want to return to Lampuuk where we lived, but we have to
\nbuild a house first,\" said Sofyan, one of Nurlaili's brothers.<\/p>\n
Sofyan says he cannot look at his sister without feeling sad.
\nHe is worried her disability will cost her her confidence and
\nthat no man will want to marry her.<\/p>\n
As the artificial leg was too small for her, Nurlaili now uses
\ncrutches to get about.<\/p>\n
Nurlaili is not hoping for much, but she is determined not to
\nbe a burden for her brothers.<\/p>\n
She suggested that sewing classes would be one way out of
\npoverty, for her and others like her.<\/p>\n
\"But, does the government have any plans for disabled people
\nlike me?\" she said, her eyes wet with tears.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/minus-leg-nurlaili-faces-tough-life-1447893297",
"image": ""
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