Accident may leave boy permanently disabled

Accident may leave boy permanently disabled

JAKARTA (JP): A speeding train ran over a young child on
Wednesday, severing both of his arms.

Two-year-old Rizki was crossing railway tracks with his mother
and four-year-old sister near their home in Pademangan, North
Jakarta, when he slipped and fell between the tracks just as a
train passed.

The train passed over him, but his arms were across the track.
His left arm was severed up to the shoulder and his right arm
severed to the elbow.

Rizki was taken to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in
Central Jakarta for treatment. He is in intensive care.

A medical staffer said his life would be saved by surgery
intended to stop the bleeding.

The hospital has said that additional surgery could be
performed to reattach his arms, but it must be done within 24
hours of the accident.

Surgery to reattach his arms would cost Rp 20 million
($2,300), while monthly hospital care would cost Rp 1 million,
said one medical staffer, as quoted by Haeruman, a civilian
defense worker of Pademangan village who admitted him to the
hospital.

Rizki's father, Usan said he had no money to pay even the Rp
400,000 hospital bill already incurred.

"We don't even have enough money to cover our daily expenses,"
he told reporters at the hospital on Wednesday.

He earns Rp 10,000 per day as a roaming fruit sell. He and his
wife have four children, two of which live with their
grandparents in Sindang Laut village in Cirebon, West Java.

The family lives in a three by three meter plywood slum home
in Pademangan subdistrict, Mangga Dua, North Jakarta.

"We rent it for Rp 25,000 per month," he said.

The family moved from Sunter in North Jakarta on Sunday to be
closer to Usan's workplace in the Mangga Dua area.

The accident happened as Rizki's mother, Rokhimah, 35, and his
sister were returning to their home after doing the family
shopping at a small shop 100 meters from their home. Rokhimah was
carrying Rizki before they reached the railway track, but he
asked to be put down.

Rizki's mother, who was still in shock after the accident, was
not available to comment on the accident.

According to data from the hospital, at least 41 people had
been killed in train accidents in Jakarta during the first
quarter of this year, or about 13 people a month.

Last year, an average of 10 people died per month in similar
accidents. (01)