Confronting a twin-damage with no hands

mangalore: it looks like life always accosts her with a double-edged sword. first, if poverty was not enough, harinakshi (18) lost her parents at a tender age and now, a quirk of fate has rendered her disabled. a few months back, harinakshi lost one of her hands completely and another partially in a freak accident at a saw-mill. she is recuperating at the kmc hospital at attavar and facing an uncertain future -- without her hands and with no means to pay her mounting medical bills.hailing from a poor family at taneerbhavi here, the only sister of five brothers could not continue her education beyond fifth standard due to financial constraints after losing her parents. harinakshi was looking after her elder brother's children (after his wife's death) and rolling beedis, till she joined work as a daily wager at a plywood industry at the baikampady industrial area as a table sheet cutter. two months back, due to alleged negligence of a worker (who switched on the machine before harinakshi could take her hands out of the cutter), the machine severed her hands. while her left hand was completely severed, her right hand lost four fingers. she was rushed to the kmc hospital at attavar and due to severe trauma, her left hand was amputated. the fingers on her right hand have been sutured but the hospital authorities have doubts about the fingers being retained on the hand as she was brought in late for the operation. after the initial trauma, the girl is now put into mental agony after the employer allegedly backed out from paying her medical bills, which has now mounted to rs 35,000. dr jayaram, kmc medical superintendent, told the newspaper that the employer had initially committed himself to pay the entire medical expenses and later washed his hands of it by paying just rs 8,000. the victim's brothers, also daily wagers, are not in a position to bear the medical expenses. their plight is such that even a visit to the hospital costs them a days's pay. repeated attempts to contact the owner of the saw-mill have been futile. the mobile phone number given to the medical superintendent for contact by the employer was not also of much help as it has been switched off. harinakshi has set her feet on the shaky ground for someone else's mistake. stability is a far cry unless samaritans come by.