NAROWAL: The family of a 12-year-old child who had his both hands amputated in Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital after injuries in fireworks explosion is finding it difficult to continue his treatment.

A group of children was playing with scrap of fireworks in a field at Boobak Marali village almost two weeks ago. They carried the scrap of fireworks from the filth depot to a field and one of them Talha Imran, 12, mischievously set the scrap on fire. The fireworks caught fire and exploded leaving eight children injured.

A team of the Rescue 1122 shifted the injured to the District Headquarters (DHQ) hospital where three of the critically injured children were referred to the Jinnah Hospital, Lahore.

As Talha’s condition deteriorated, doctors at the Jinnah Hospital cut his both hands and allegedly discharged him without complete treatment.

Imran, the father of the affected child, said he was a man of limited means and did not afford the treatment of his son who was in great pain. A labourer, Imran lives in single-room rickety house and says he earns Rs14,000 a month that is too meagre an amount to feed the family.

Local residents Muhammad Aslam and Naseer Ahmed vouchsafe for the fact that the labourer works hard to eke out a living for the family that is in distress after the child’s accident.

They demand Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar should help them in the treatment of the child’s hands so that he could lead a normal life.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2020