She got her hand back

BANGALORE: The seven-year-old girl had just had a feast at the marriage hall on a Sunday afternoon. On her way back to her hometown from Bangalore, Roopa''s right hand was crushed under the iron rods of the lorry in which she was hitching a ride.
Roopa, the anxious little listener, was clutching the lorry''s iron rods while her granny narrated a long story.The driver lost control while negotiating a steep curve resulting in the vehicle turning over, crushing Roopa''s hand.
She was taken to four private nursing homes in Chikmagalur in vain. Later, she was referred to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Bangalore. The doctors said Roopa''s fingers needed to be amputated. A disheartened father got in touch with two members of the Lions Club of Bangalore Metro, who, in turn, referred the girl, by now writhing in intolerable pain and extensively bleeding, to the Sahana Hospital at Kengeri Satellite Town.
Dr G. Aravind, consultant surgeon and managing director at the hospital, says: ``She was brought 24 hours after the injury. The right hand had an extensive crush injury with severe loss of skin and soft tissues with bone and neurovascular compromises.''''
Dr K. Priyadarshan, consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon, and Dr C. Manjunath, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, along with a team of doctors, attended on the little girl immediately. Roopa''s father, a daily wage worker, could not afford the estimated cost of Rs 70,000 plus. The doctors and the Lions Club helped Roopa''s family with the various expenses.
Roopa underwent three major surgeries on April 8 and 16 and May 6. Her hand, saved from amputation, now has a complete covering of skin from her abdomen.
While Roopa says she is eager to get back to her grandmother to listen to the rest of the untold story, her doctors hope that one day she will get a chance to `shake hands'' with her favourite Kannada film stars Ravichandran and Prema, whose photographs she kept by her hospital bedside.