Monday, May 5, 2008

inside the box

Last Friday, one of our less-fortunate neighbors (a grandma) came to the house to ask for help. They needed money for the medicine that was scheduled to be injected on her grandchild. Hers was such a sad story.

The previous Friday, she fell on the slippery concrete floor of the communal bathing area (where they take a bath and wash their clothes); and hit the back of her head real hard. I don’t know what her mom was doing at that time and why she wasn’t able to watch her child. She seemed okay probably so there was no cause to be alarmed. But on Saturday, according to her grandma, she came running and complained that her head was painful, then she vomited. The grandma didn’t’ even know about the accident that took place the day before. They were able to bring her to the hospital on Tuesday since they don’t have money for hospitalization. Her mom is a housewife, taking care of another baby and the stepfather doesn’t have a regular job.

Anyway, it was found out that she had an internal hemorrhage then she had a stroke and later fell into a coma. The poor girl is only two years old! My grandma suffered the same fate before too. The vein in her brain snapped causing an internal hemorrhage and ended in a stroke. Doctors told us she had couple of months to live but we were blessed that she lived longer though she was bedridden. So we know that this little girl had little chance to survive. It would be a miracle if she lives.

When we got home last night, we noticed that there was a small crowd gathering in the multipurpose hall. Candles were flickering in the dim night. Now the little girl is back, inside a coffin.