A nine-year-old girl who fell through the ninthfloor duct of a highrise on the western fringe of Kolkata on December 1 is still in hospital but has put the worst behind her, said doctors.
Annesha Ghosh has told her parents that she wants to get back to school as soon as possible to meet her friends.
Doctors treating her at Calcutta Medical Research Institute said the child had a long road to recovery ahead.
“She can move her hands, sit up, eat on her own and read. But she is yet to find strength and balance in her legs. She will have to stay in the hospital for at least another fortnight. Even after discharge, regular physiotherapy and medication will be needed for months before she can get back to normal life. But the worst phase is over,” said Shantanu Ray, a paediatrician at CMRI, who is treating the girl.
On December 1, Annesha fell from the ninth floor and landed on the concrete base of a tower at Eden City in Maheshtala. Fibreglass sheets, not strong enough to bear even her tiny weight, gave way on each floor. The accident happened hours after the Ghoshs’ housewarming ceremony. The family had just moved into the new flat.
The duct was meant to provide utility services — cable and internet wires, in this case — to the residents.
Annesha was playing with a friend in the corridor when she entered the duct and mistook the base as a stable floor, according to her family members and other residents.
In the hospital, Annesha spent around three weeks on life support. Now, she is in the paediatric ward, accompanied by her mother round-the-clock.
A team of nurses has been looking after her, keeping her spirits up and providing her with storybooks like Hansel and Gretel and Sleeping Beauty.
“Occasionally, she is humming a rhyme or a song. She keeps saying she wants to go back to school and meet her friends,” said Goutam Ghosh, her father.
When she was wheeled in, she had a very feeble pulse and her blood pressure was barely recordable.
“No system in the body was working properly. She had breathing problems, her body temperature was shooting up. She had multiple injuries in the head, spine, lungs and multiple cuts and abrasions on her body. The external blood loss was not significant but there were lots of internal injuries,” said a spokesperson for the hospital.
A fortnight later, she was stable enough to undergo surgery, while still in a coma.
“She had multiple fractures. But the one that concerned us the most caused a depression in the skull. That part had to be elevated during surgery,” said Ajay Agarwal, consultant neurosurgeon at CMRI.
She came to her senses gradually and started recognising people. With speech therapy and medication, she started talking.
Annesha’s father, an employee of the food and supplies department of the state government, said the girl, a student of Carmel Convent School in Maheshtala, is due for promotion to Class III.
“Her exams are scheduled for February. We have requested the school to take an oral test, if possible. The school has been very cooperative,” he said.