Grandfather pulled up Dinesh’s shirt and began to feel carefully. His fingers slowly slid over the little boy’s chest to the belly. When he finally discovered the neat seam of the successful operation and understood that his grandson was now able to lead a completely normal life, he began to cry with joy and relief.
Little Dinesh (translated “sun of the day”) was born in the summer of 2017 on the roadside in the Mugu mountains with a life-threatening inflamed umbilical hernia. Parts of his innards broke through his abdominal wall in a sack of skin. In a multi-day odyssey, the desperate Chaiti hurried with her husband Janga on foot from the district hospital in Gamgadhi to Jumla over the Mugu mountains – but the young family could not be helped anywhere. The situation was too serious. Only the chance meeting with Back to Life employees brings a spark of hope: Dinesh was flown to a special clinic in Kathmandu and treated for the inflammation – due to the monsoons with adventurous detours. Literally in the last second, because otherwise the newborn would not have been able to survive the next few days. His parents would not have been able to pay for the flight or the medication either.
A year and a half to the operation
In this way, the doctors saved Dinesh’s life for a long time, but the necessary operation to correct the umbilical hernia was out of the question for a long time because of the severe inflammation. In addition, the risk of the medical procedure would not decrease until Dinesh got a little older. In the meantime, we kept having the boy examined by a doctor and our team on site stood by the family during this difficult time. Then, in December 2018, the doctors finally gave their OK for the operation, which also financed Back to Life. After a few weeks in Kathmandu – his mother never left his side – Dinesh had finally recovered enough in early January 2019 to be able to return to Mugu.
Chaiti tells: “My husband now works far away in India to be able to feed us. If we had lost Dinesh in the operation, I would not have been able to bring him this terrible news. I was so scared. But when the nurse finally told me that everything went well, it was the happiest moment of my life! “ According to the doctors, Dinesh can now develop normally. Given his young age, it is to be hoped that no trauma from this time will be retained. We are happy that we were able to help and now wish the small family all the best!
