Retired school teacher Shivaswami, who has been teaching all his life, was unable to teach his only daughter Roopa, born with a hearing and speech impairment. His son-in-law Ravi is also hearing and speech impaired. And now his grand daughter, two-and-a-half year old Hima, is born with hearing impairment.
A hearing aid also could not help Hima. Both her hearing and speech development continued to deteriorate.
Birth defects can be rectified if they are treated at an early stage. Life can turn out to be better for Hima. A cochlear implant surgery before she turns five could enable her to hear normally.
Cochlear implant surgery entails planting a device in the inner ear, which will sttimulate the hearing cord. She will be able to overcome her disability in hearing and eventually speech, according to doctors at the New Apollo Hospital.
" Hima has the problem from birth and a hearing aid will not help her. So to stimulate her hearing, we need to do the cochlear implant surgery and this has to be done as soon as possible since her neural network for the hearing cord dies as she grows older" says Dr Sunil Narayan.
According to doctors at Apollo Hospital, the surgery is expensive since the cochlear device has to be imported. The cost of the surgery is estimated to be Rs 8 lakh per ear.
For Hima's parents who are daily-wage earners residing in Jagajyothi Layout, Kengeri, arranging such a huge amount is practically impossible.
Roopa could be fine if I had got her treated then. "I don't want to repeat the mistake with my grand-daughter. But the sugery is so expensive that we can't afford it" said Shivaswami.
He has been running from pillar to post to get help for Hima's treatment. Those who are willing to help the family can contact 9900100108 or the Apollo Hospital Society.