Dehradun : A toddler waits for parents who may never return, natures fury has probably robbed the girl of her parents. She does not know their names, nor does she know where her home is. She has multiple fractures in both legs and one in her wrist. She keeps on crying for long, oblivious of the teddy bears placed by her side on the hospital bed to soothe her. All she looks for are her parents. But they might not return. They are presumed to have perished in the Uttarakhand flood.
The girl was shifted here from a relief camp in Rishikesh. According to Dwarika Nauni, coordinator of Child Helpline, an NGO, she was brought to the relief camp by an ambulance, from Totaghati area on the Rishikesh-Devprayag route. “We are trying to locate the place from where the ambulance recovered her,” said Nauni. “We got information about the girl on June 21. We got her admitted to a government hospital at Rishikesh, and later shifted her to Doon hospital,” added Nauni. Doctors described her condition as stable. So far, the girl has only been able to speak a few words like “Amma” and “Baba”, said officials. “We have requested Child Helpline to take care of her for now,” said ASP Mamta Bohara to the sources.
Pallavi, who runs a boutique in Dehradun, visits the hospital daily to take care of Gudiya. She has been praying for some miracle to unite the girl with her parents. “She was crying all this while and has just slept. She cries so much, then she tires out and sleeps,” she said.
Her prayers have gone unanswered for the last five days. Neha Sharma, the child helpline staffer who brought Gudiya from Rishikesh and has been attending to her all these days, said, “There are a few teddy bears, chocolates and toys on the bed in the emergency ward. But they are of little use. The babys haemoglobin was barely six counts and doctors gave a unit of blood on Wednesday.”said to the sources.
Neha had sustained a head injury. She is awaiting reports of a CT scan. Officials said in case relatives do not turn up, Gudiya would be sent to Shishu Niketan. She would be available for adoption thereafter, Neha said.
