Around midday yesterday, two men came to the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, looking for Dr Samonto Lal Sen.
They found the doctor who heads the Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit as he was hurrying to leave his office for a meeting at the health ministry. But when Dr Sen heard what the men wanted, he had to stop and assist them.
One of them told Dr Sen that his uncle, Md Fazlul Hoque, is 95-years-old. He lives at Tajmahal Road in the capital’s Mohammadpur area.
The former businessman is now hard of hearing and though his eyesight is poor, he still reads newspapers and watches TV. When he saw the victims of the recent firebomb attacks agonising in their hospital beds with burns all over their bodies, he had to do something.
As he can hardly move about, he sent his nephew and an associate to donate Tk50,000 for the hapless victims of political violence.
Expressing his gratitude to the elderly man for his humanity, Dr Sen took the nephew to a colleague, Dr Md Sazzad Khondokar, who has been receiving donations from the people.
Dr Khondokar received the money and gave them a letter of appreciation for Fazlul Hoque.
Like Fazlul Hoque, a cross-section of people have come forward to aid the burn victims out of sheer humanity. They are giving money to the doctors or family members to ensure better care for the victims.
Moreover, the doctors, nurses and other supporting staff of the burn unit have also been busy providing the best possible treatment to the victims. They were also known to buy medicines with their own money for their patients.
Dr Khondokar told the Dhaka Tribune that burn patients need specialised, long-term treatment that can be very costly. “The financial aid from the general people has been contributing a lot towards their care,” he said.
“We have to change their medicines randomly. We need an emergency fund to buy strong antibiotics,” he added.
He said they had received about Tk300,000 from a few people in the last two days. Some donors did not even disclose their names.
The doctor himself has contributed Tk36,000, while a resident surgeon gave Tk12,000 from his own pocket to buy medicines.
“We do not know whether we will be reimbursed, but we have done it out of humanity,” Dr Khondokar said.
A total of 51 people have been admitted to the state-run hospital following arson attacks during recent opposition hartals and blockades.
Of them, nine have died, five were admitted to the ICU (intensive care unit), seven to the HDU (high dependency unit) and 23 are undergoing treatment in general wards.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has given a new ambulance to the burn unit, and plans to provide Tk1m to buy medicines and other supplies.
Dr Shah Newaz, director (administration) of DGHS, said the ambulance was given on an emergency basis. However, he said he had no specific information on the Tk1m fund.
During a visit to the hospital on Sunday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina donated Tk10,000 each to 35 burn patients. She also directed health officials to ensure the best treatment for the innocent victims.
