Mum of cerebral palsy victim desperate for help

Star: SIK: Siti Harisah Azizan, 23, weighs a mere 15kg and is about the size of a year-old baby.
The limbs of Siti Harisah, who has cerebral palsy, are severely deformed. She lies in a foetal position the whole day.
Her mother Robiah Salleh, 52, from Jalan Anggerik, Kampung Mandoi, here is worried about Siti Harisah’s future.
“I fear to think about what would become of Siti Harisah when I’m old and unable to care for her,” she said when met at her house recently.
Robiah had to resign from her factory job to care for her daughter. She is estranged from her 53-year-old husband Azizan Ali, who gives Robiah RM300 a month for child support.
Robiah spends about RM600 on diapers, vitamins and medication, and disposable diapers.
“I am unable to get welfare aid because the district welfare office tells me that Siti Harisah is above 21 years old and must sign the forms,” Robiah said.
“I just do not know what to do as I have seen just about everyone for help.”
When contacted, a spokesman from the welfare office said they were waiting for recommendations from Sik Hospital.
A hospital medical officer on duty who declined to be named said they were unable to trace her files.
Robiah has five other grown-up children but they are also not well off.
“They are married and are just as poor. They help when they can but they have their own lives to lead,” said the mother.
Recalling Siti Harisah’s birth, Robiah said her daughter had high fever a few days after she was born at Sik Hospital in 1983, followed by an epileptic fit.
“A few months later, I realised that something was wrong with her as she was unable to move about like a normal baby. I took her to Sik Hospital where she was given symptomatic treatment,” she added.
“We were never sent to a referral hospital for a proper diagnosis by a consultant or for an early interventional programme to help her adapt to being a handicap. In 2000, she became totally paralysed.”
Robiah also said she would like to send her daughter for physiotherapy so that she would be able to stretch her muscles, which had become rigid over the years.
Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Prof Sharaf Ibrahim from Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM) in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, has offered to examine her.
Those who wish to help the family can send donations by crossed cheque to Kraf Jelita Ayu (Grannies) at 46, Persiaran Mayang Pasir 5, Bukit Gedong, Bayan Lepas, 11900 Penang, or call the chairman Salmah Ibrahim at 012-5094588.