Today I came across a very disturbing footage from my home country of a young girl 9-10yrs old, left outside on a motor bike. Motor bike appears to be parked right outside a clinic/ small hospital. The girl has her eyes closed, jaw dropped open, she is limp, has an iv access in her hand, she is supported by her family members (most likely her mother and father).
The doctor/ medical staff is seen to be walking away from her and the person who has recorded the footage is heard asking this staff about why they have thrown her outside their clinic? The medical person just walks away and goes inside the clinic.
Within seconds the poor girl appears to be more and more limp and is now lying on the motor bike unconscious. Sadly it looks like she is dying.
My heart goes out to her parents who were hugging her and crying in desperation and helplessness. It is heart wrenching.
I couldn’t watch it anymore!
I spent a few minutes wondering what could be the possible reason for the medical staff to be like that. I tried to understand the situation from their point of view.
But then it occurred to me, that there can be absolutely no reason good enough, big enough or justifiable enough for this kind of inhumane behaviour.
This young girl could have been saved, could have been resuscitated, could have been stabilised and then transferred to another hospital, if the clinic did not feel that they could manage her there.
She was just left to die on the street in the sitting position, on a motor bike in the arms of her parents.
This young girl had her whole life ahead of her. She had seen nothing. With her died the hope of a beautiful, vibrant life. With her died the hopes and dreams of her loving parents.
I am deeply saddened to witness this tragedy. But the thing is when we see something like this, it shakes us to our core. But what about the hundreds and thousands of cases everyday that we do not get to see?
Also I ask this question again to my community of medical professionals?
What happened to us? When did we become so numb?
How did we become so cruel, so cold, so indifferent?
It is not that we are completely numb to all human suffering. We are only numb towards those who are not our own. By our own, we mean our family member or may be a friend. Would the doctor/ staff have felt the same way if that young girl was their own daughter? Would her life matter to them then?
The only time we are sensitive towards another human life is when it is our own close family member. Our children, our mother, our father, our brother. No one else matters!
I am ashamed to belong to a community that despite such noble profession have disgraced humanity from time to time. I have not contributed much or done enough to change this practice, nor have I played my part with full dedication to improve the situation.
My sincere condolences to the little girl’s family and my deepest apologies to them for their pain & suffering.
