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Pain, hope from Tangdar to Delhi

Shujaat Bukhari

Misra and Fatima Jan, broke their spinal cords in a fall during the quake

SRINAGAR : Since October 8, when the devastating earthquake hit Kashmir, it has been just pain and agony for two young women of Tangdar suffering from severe spinal injury.

With philanthropists and NGO's lending a helping hand, theymay walk again if the All India Institute of Medical Sciences succeeds in treating them.

Though most people in Tangdar and Uri had restarted their lives, for 22-year old Misra and 24-year-old Fatima Jan, it was unending trauma and wait since they broke their spinal chords in a fall, leaving their limbs lifeless.

Their misfortunes were unending. Misra, who hails from Dani Kandia village, was expecting her first baby and subsequently had to go in for an abortion. She also lost her house, besides a number of close relatives. Fatima lost her husband and two children.

They were shifted and treated at the Bone and Joint Hospital, Barzulla. "It was a very difficult case and their chances to regain the power to walk are not too bright," said Jameel Ahmed Mir, an orthopaedic surgeon who attended on them.

They were later shifted to the Youth Hostel where many quake survivors were sheltered. The Zakat Foundation of India looked after them at the hostel, but both were in deep pain. Doctors suggested shifting them to Delhi for specialised care. "I cannot tell you how these months have been for us. We lost everything and they were lying like dead bodies in the Srinagar hostel. I have no words for the people who helped us," said Fatima's brother, Bashir Ahmed.

As no airline immediately agreed to take them to Delhi, it was a long wait in desperation and hope. And, only last week Indian Airlines ferried them to the capital, but that too was not hassle free. It was only aftera prominent Srinagar businessman Iqbal Bukhari spoke tosenior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz, who in turn wrote to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, that help came.

It was decided to airlift them after the Foundation wrote to the Indian Airlines Chairman.In Delhi, Zakat Foundation and Mr. Bukhari are taking care of them. Mr. Bukhari had paid for the fares of the two attendants who accompanied them to Delhi.

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Pain, hope from Tangdar to Delhi

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