Saturday, April 22, 2006

Docs checking on Siti Harisah

Star: SUNGAI PETANI: Siti Harisah Azizan, whose body is writhen with bone deformity, has been admitted to Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM) for further analysis and diagnosis.
HUKM director Prof Datuk Dr Mohamad Abdul Razak said Siti Harisah, 23, from Sik, Kedah, was admitted to the orthopaedic ward on Wednesday.
He said she would be there for at least one to two weeks and that all expenses incurred during her stay would be waived as she was categorised as a disabled person.
On April 12, The Star reported Siti Harisah as suffering from cerebral palsy (CP), as noted in her record at the Sik Hospital where she was born in 1983.
However, HUKM consultant orthopaedic surgeon Prof Sharaf Ibrahim said CP was not a progressive disorder and that Siti Harisah’s physical deformity might be caused by a neurological disorder.
He said a multi-discipline team would be assessing Siti Harisah’s condition before a definite analysis was determined for appropriate treatment or therapy.
Siti Harisah was accompanied by her mother Robiah Salleh, 52, brother-in-law Zanudin Arafadin and Disabled Persons Association Langkawi chairman Salmah Ibrahim.
Since her plight was highlighted in The Star, help in the form of cash and kind has come pouring in, and visitors stream in to visit Siti Harisah at her house in Kampung Mandoi, Sik.
Datuk Azman Mahmood, corporate adviser to a property developer, sponsored her flight with her mother to Kuala Lumpur.
Azman, who is also chairman of several public-listed companies, is also providing RM600 monthly for Siti's expenses.
The family’s hotel stay in Kuala Lumpur would be paid by businessman Martin Lim See Man, who was also at the KL International Airport to receive them on Tuesday.
Siti, who weighs a mere 15kg and is about the size of a year-old baby, lies in a foetal position the whole day long.
Robiah, who had to resign from her factory job to care for her daughter, spends about RM600 a month on diapers, vitamins and medication.
Her previous attempts to get aid from the welfare office in Sik have failed.
Robiah said her daughter had high fever a few days after she was born at Sik Hospital in 1983, followed by an epileptic fit.
She took her to the same hospital, where she was given symptomatic treatment.
She was not sent to any referral hospital for a proper diagnosis, Robiah added.

No comments: